Betting the ranch
Developer can’t help falling in love with Elvis’ Circle G
The ambitious plans taking shape for Elvis’ old Circle G Ranch in Horn Lake aren’t the first time a grand vision has been offered for the storied property where Presley and Priscilla honeymooned.
Destin, Florida-based developer Davage “Buddy” Runnels Jr. last week outlined to area business leaders a multiphase proposal to develop what could eventually swell to more than 500 acres at the intersection of Goodman Road and Miss. 301. Runnels, a Mississippi native whose Real Estate International firm is known for planned communities around Destin, has already bought the ranch itself for an undisclosed price and says funding is in place for a $3.2 million first phase. He hopes to have the initial phase open within a year.
Runnels and partners have not submitted a development plan to Horn Lake, however, and he admits much of the vision beyond the initial phase depends on conditions beyond his control.
“Obviously, it’s all economic,” Runnels said while touring the property after he outlined his plans to Horn Lake Chamber of Commerce members.
If things play out as Runnels hopes, the development would eventually become a destination entertainment venue for hordes of Elvis fans worldwide who come to visit Graceland and, Runnels believes, would readily come another few miles to spend time at the ranch. He sees hotels, housing, senior living, shopping and other amenities eventually joining the restored cottages, stables and outdoor music around a lake that would come first.
That’s not terribly unlike past visions that never came to fruition.
In 2002, Atlanta developer J.D. Stacy gained approval for an Elvisthemed resort that would have included a go-kart racing complex, two hotels and a convention center, 650
luxury condominiums, three wedding chapels, honeymoon cottages, an Elvis museum, two golf courses, a family entertainment center, a retail center, restaurants and a concert auditorium.
Don Wilkinson, who was then-executive director of the Horn Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, told The Commercial Appeal at the time that the development was “the biggest thing to hit Mississippi since Nissan.”
DeSoto County planners gave the project unanimous approval, but it languished until 2005 when Horn Lake — by then in control of the property — approved a revised but still grandiose plan that rolled the condo proposal into high-rise towers that Stacy said could be as high as 35 stories — tall enough to make it worth noting at the time that the area was outside the Memphis International Airport flyway.
The project, obviously, never materialized. By 2009, the property was again for sale for $6.5 million, and it attracted interest from investors worldwide because of Elvis’ connection.
Horn Lake leaders said then that they were skeptical of the site’s potential as an entertainment complex.
“There has been talk of a development that would be sort of a cross between Branson, Missouri, and Las Vegas,” Anita Rainey, Horn Lake’s planning director in 2009, said. “But I just don’t think that would be the best use of the property.
“Some people have had visions of high-rise condos and honeymoon cottages — even a replica of the White House. But I don’t see that happening.”
Added real estate agent Rodger Motz at the time: “We tried two different times to get that done with two different buyers, but they never came through with the money.”
When Runnels finally purchased the property in 2014, though, it generated renewed hope that something would finally happen with the ranch Elvis sold in 1974 after he and Priscilla divorced.
Horn Lake Mayor Allen Latimer, who has referred to the Circle G property as a diamond in the rough, said after last week’s presentation by Runnels that he seems to be “the real deal.”
“He’s worked closely with us, asking questions as he’s developed his plans to make sure everything is in order,” Latimer said, even though city officials have yet to get any formal plan.
And with the land already purchased in this case and first phase funding secured, according to Runnels, everyone surrounding the project voices confidence that at least the initial phase will soon be something more than just talk.
“I don’t mind telling you,” Runnels said to affirm how serious he is, “that we’ve already got a lot of money in this.”