The Luxury Real Estate Empire Where Tom Brady and Reese Witherspoon Can Hide Outhttps://www.harthowerton.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Silo-1024x665.png1024665Madison SilversMadison Silvershttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/1ad2efe6a2ca30ba97aa9923389e70dd?s=96&d=mm&r=g
In the inner circles of luxury real estate, hard-core golfers and connoisseurs of upscale homes aren’t considered part of the cognoscenti if they don’t own a property in a Discovery Land Company community. At the very least, they need to know the brand, and, ideally, aspire to eventually become an owner.
Founded in 1994 by Mike Meldman, who is also a co-founder of Casamigos Tequila, the real estate business has a portfolio of 27 private high-end golf communities in North America, the Caribbean, and now Europe with the recent debut of CostaTerra Golf & Ocean Club in Portugal’s Comporta region.
How ironic is it then that Meldman wasn’t a golfer when he started his company and was motivated by the popularity of master-planned golf communities instead? “I sensed the opportunity to create a brand that filled a missing gap in the market,” he says. “I wanted properties that were upscale but not formal like all the golf clubs out there. And they had to have lots of fun amenities.”
These principles have led to wild success: Today, Discovery Land Company counts a long list of boldface names as members. The mix of celebrities and CEOs includes Gisele Bündchen and Tom Brady, Reese Witherspoon, Michael Jordan, Weight Watchers CEO Mindy Grossman, iHeartMedia COO, and CFO Richard Bressler, and Rande Gerber and Cindy Crawford.
High-profile homeowners aside, Meldman’s business has exploded in the wake of COVID. “There was a strong demand for homes at Discovery communities even before the pandemic, but COVID has dramatically magnified demand,” he says. “An overwhelming number of Discovery members quarantined at our clubs when the pandemic hit the U.S. in March 2020.” Nearly 100 families stayed at the Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, Montana, Meldman says, with many more quarantining at the Madison Club in La Quinta, California, and Silo Ridge Field Club in New York’s Hudson Valley.
“Toward the end of April, as it became clear the pandemic would be present for some time, we started receiving substantial interest from buyers looking to acquire new properties over FaceTime, or close on properties they looked at before COVID hit,” he says. “It was evident that families were looking to our communities to protect themselves from the threat of the virus.”
The Yellowstone Club has especially experienced extraordinary growth since early 2020, according to Meldman, and many families looking to relocate also set their sights on Driftwood Golf & Ranch Club outside of Austin, and Troubadour Golf & Field Club in Nashville. Other clubs have seen a substantial increase in sales to younger families, a demographic that isn’t typically attracted to golf communities. After all, the perception is that they’re meant for retirees.
Why Troubadour Club Is Making Nashville Hotter Than Ever Beforehttps://www.harthowerton.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/https___specials-images.forbesimg.com_imageserve_61807bf6861da5b28a4d178c_DJI-0058-1-_960x0.jpg960694Madison SilversMadison Silvershttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/1ad2efe6a2ca30ba97aa9923389e70dd?s=96&d=mm&r=g
Nashville already has a lot going for it as a destination- there’s the great music scene, fantastic Southern food, old-fashioned hospitality, shopping and so much more.
Here’s another reason to fall in love: Discovery Land Company’s Troubadour Golf and Field Club, an exclusive, private community on 860 acres, with 375 residences, an 18-hole Tom Fazio golf course, top quality food, and family-friendly events and activities throughout the year.
Nashville, Tennessee is one of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S., and people have flocked to Troubadour Club in the wake of the pandemic.
Members of the club must first own property at the development. Discovery Land Company, Troubadour’s parent company, is known for its excellent amenities, family-centric settings, and service, and Troubadour captures the essence of all three.
Discovery Land Company also has a reputation for its Tom Fazio golf courses. Troubadour’s course has hosted premier golfers such as Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, and Rickie Fowl
Troubadour’s outdoor activities include go-carts, archery, skeet shooting, ax throwing, and fishing. There’s a spa, incredible gym, and kids’ club with so many activities (hello art studio!) that the kid’s clubs at the best resorts pale in comparison.
Let’s talk about the food: the terrain-to-table fare highlights fresh ingredients from the on-property farms. The organic garden and greenhouses provide sustainable produce, and a family barn hosts cooking classes and education on agriculture and local fare. Every diet is catered to, and every food preference is met. Fresh salad with a lean protein and low-calorie dressing? Or a corn dog with a side of mozzarella sticks or a Dover sole with haricots verts? Check, check and check again. Top-notch wines and spirits (more Casamigos) are always at the ready.
Now, to what makes Nashville so special and Troubadour all the more appealing. Gigi Levangie Glazer, a bestselling author, screenwriter, and television producer, recently move to the city from Los Angeles and describes her love for Music City in a few thoughtful words. “I think my husband and I were in a daze from the moment we stepped foot in Nashville, mesmerized by the energy of the city, the kindness of strangers, and the sense that life was worth living,” she says. “It’s almost like what I imagine Los Angeles used to be – where young, ambitious people headed because that’s the city where anything was possible and dreams would come true and you could live your best life; I feel the same way about Nashville today.”
Los Cabo’s Luxury Real Estate Market Is Reaching New Heightshttps://www.harthowerton.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/chileno_Courtesy-Sargent20Photography-1024x682.jpg1024682Madison SilversMadison Silvershttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/1ad2efe6a2ca30ba97aa9923389e70dd?s=96&d=mm&r=g
In Mexico’s famed beachy paradise destination, these seven upscale communities boast everything from lush gardens to scuba diving
The real estate market in Cabo San Lucas is booming like never before, and there’s no sign of a slowdown anytime soon.
Located on Mexico’s west coast in the state of Baja California Sur, Cabo, as it’s known, has had a glut of real estate development for the last several decades. The destination is a mainstay vacation home spot for buyers from California and Texas, and while sales have generally been strong over the years, they’ve exploded since the onset of the pandemic.
Saddia Rahaman, a real estate adviser with Engel & Volkers, who resides in Los Cabos, said that the company has seen $213.7 million in accepted offers so far in 2021, the second-best year in its history. In March of this year alone, Engel & Volkers had 1.22 sales per day, with the average price being $1.41 million.
“The market keeps getting stronger and stronger, and bidding wars are common,” says Rahaman. “Although there are many luxury real estate communities in Cabo, there isn’t as much inventory as you would think because we have had so much demand.”
Sales in specific communities also point to the growth: Villas Del Mar, the most upscale part of the master planned development of Palmilla, is on track to exceed $200 million in sales in 2021, more than a 100% increase from last year, according to director of sales Michael Baldwin.
Our roundup of seven high-end residential communities in Cabo includes one with unlimited Casamigos and a killer sports park, and others with an array of attractive amenities from beach clubs to spas that will have you wanting to buy a home and move in forever.
How Mike Meldman Got the Rich and Famous to Live in Resortshttps://www.harthowerton.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/BI_blue_background_vertical-1-1024x466.png1024466Madison SilversMadison Silvershttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/1ad2efe6a2ca30ba97aa9923389e70dd?s=96&d=mm&r=g
Mike Meldman is one of the most influential real-estate moguls in the country thanks to his luxurious live-in resorts, which became irresistible to the rich and famous during the pandemic
Mike Meldman started out a long way from the luxurious resort communities he’s built since the early 1990s.
The Milwaukee native and Stanford graduate started out with plans for a career in law — but he told Insider that idea was scrapped when he “bombed the LSATs” and had to refocus his postgrad path.
A few months later he found himself dealing blackjack in Lake Tahoe, where he met a man who asked him if he’d like to make as much money as he wanted while working as little as he could. He said yes.
From there it was off to the races in real estate, where Meldman started working as a commercial broker until he started building his own property empire.
Today he’s the chairman and CEO of Discovery Land Company, which he’s led since founding the firm in 1994. The multimillion-dollar developer is behind some of the world’s most exclusive neighborhoods. Meldman is also the co-founder of the trendy tequila brand Casamigos alongside two longtime pals: the Oscar-winning actor George Clooney and the nightlife mogul Rande Gerber, who is also the longtime husband of the model and actress Cindy Crawford.
Meldman, 62, has propelled Discovery from a single golf club to more than two dozen private enclaves from Idaho to the Caribbean that are now sought after by the world’s wealthiest.
Even before the pandemic, his properties had already lured A-list residents and guests from Michael Jordan and Tom Brady to Reese Witherspoon and Bill Gates. But the 1% have moved in even greater numbers since last spring. Sales at Discovery — where home prices range from $2 million to $50 million — were more than $2 billion last year, according to the company. That’s up from $1 billion in 2015.
“Everywhere we had available inventory, they sold it,” Meldman said via phone from Discovery’s Maui property. “People wanted the safety, the security, and the bubble we create.”
Last month, Ben Affleck, a member of Meldman’s Yellowstone Club in Montana along with the businessman Eric Schmidt and Justin Timberlake, reportedly rendezvoused with Jennifer Lopez in a mansion with a private chef in a much-watched rekindling of their early-2000s romance.
It’s just the latest sign that Meldman has convinced the richest, most famous people in the world that they don’t want to live (and vacation) on Park Avenue or in the Hollywood Hills but rather in remote, lush landscapes with spacious lots, outdoor activities, and amenities that outshine the Ritz-Carlton.
Inside Discovery Land
It helped a business that the casually fancy atmosphere Meldman cultivates became coveted year-round during the pandemic.
The move toward social distancing and remote work turned several of Discovery’s vacation communities into primary residences, Meldman said. Existing inventory sold out at virtually all properties in the months after the coronavirus hit the US, and demand drove Discovery home prices up 25%.
People who flocked to Yellowstone, for example, came from Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, Meldman said, emphasizing that many relocated to far-flung locales, like Montana, because they felt safe. At his upstate New York property, Silo Ridge, the same phenomenon unfolded.
The Yellowstone Club. Discovery Land Company
The company’s vigilance in on-site COVID-19 testing and amenities like homeschooling and medical facilities, Meldman said, made living at Discovery all the more attractive to homebuyers looking to escape the crowds while still having every convenience close at hand. When residents, called members, arrive at a Discovery property, the staff handles everything, he said, so the experience can be stress-free.
To support members’ outdoor pastimes, Meldman “loves to hire the best local people” and bring on the “best experts.” Yellowstone offers fly-fishing and skiing, while the Hawaii property, Mākena, lends itself to pursuits like surfing and paddleboarding.On-site dining facilities use organic farm-to-table produce, Meldman said, mimicking the Michelin-starred beach clubs of Italy’s Amalfi coast. Jim Tripi, the director of culinary operations at Discovery’s Austin and British Columbia locations, said he “fell in love” with the company for the freedom it gives its chefs to create dishes with producers and harvesters. But a clean diet wasn’t always Meldman’s style, Tripi recalled.
“He was eating classic American food like meatloaf when I first met him,” Tripi said, but over the past decade or so he has become more health-conscious. Now he’s a fan of Tripi’s plates of fish and turkey.
Meldman recalled a time at Discovery’s Bahamas location when a chef caught a fish right out of the water and made sushi for a table of 15 dining beachside.Members at all outposts enjoy vegetables and herbs grown on-site, along with vineyards and indigenous plant life.
Silo Ridge — located in Dutchess County, New York, about two hours north of Manhattan, where homes start at $2 million — “has an amazing garden,” Meldman said.
It’s fitting that Mindy Grossman, the CEO of WW International (formerly Weight Watchers), is a resident there. She and her husband have owned a home in nearby Millbrook for the past 23 years, but when they found Discovery, they couldn’t help but buy a property.
“Silo is a gift,” she said of the sprawling community with a bustling social life and leisure offerings including ice skating and golf — a sport her husband loves but she’d never played before joining. Now she’s found herself driving and putting on the regular. She even recounted a time when she finished up on the green and a staffer stood waiting to cool her down with a shot of tequila and a wet towel.
“I’m wowed a lot,” she said, recalling memories of meals with Meldman, emphasizing that he sets the tone for the entire operation. “He’s a fantastic human being. You can tell his belief in what he’s creating is who he is and authentic, and that’s why it’s successful.”
Golfers at Silo Ridge. Andy Carlson
Peter Whalen, the general manager of Discovery’s Bahamas property, Baker’s Bay Golf and Ocean Club, has been working for Meldman since he was 19. Now 37, he spoke to Insider about his career as passionately as if he’d only just finished his first day.
He remembers arriving at the Arizona club, called Mirabel, as a teenager during a long day of job hunting. He was welcomed in, he said, and spent hours shaking hands and interviewing while his then-girlfriend (now wife) waited in the car. He got the job.
“I love Mike Meldman more than my father, and I really love my father,” he said. “He made me feel important like I mattered — part of his family.”
Whalen loves the company so much he named his 2-year-old daughter Baker after his Bahamian paradise.
In 1996, he debuted his first official project in Scottsdale, Arizona, a ritzy suburb of Phoenix.
The Estancia Club’s golf course was named the best new private course anywhere by Golf Digest. Lots sold for $1 million, significantly higher than neighboring properties. But there were fewer of them — just 223 homesites on 640 acres.
But the smaller a golf club was, the better. It’s more exclusive: A scarcity of homes makes each one more attractive — and more valuable.
“Most people think you have to have as much density as you can, but it doesn’t work like that,” Meldman said. “You’re just scarring the land.”
Meldman then crossed the Rockies to work on Yellowstone, now one of the most exclusive private ski resorts in the world. From there, he went on to develop a total of 25 Discovery properties worldwide.
New York’s Silo Ridge is the Ultimate Work from Homehttps://www.harthowerton.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/DSC_5331_HDR-12_edit-1200x800-1024x683.jpg1024683Madison SilversMadison Silvershttps://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/1ad2efe6a2ca30ba97aa9923389e70dd?s=96&d=mm&r=g
When New York closed its offices and forced everyone to work from home, flocks of city dwellers suddenly rethought their living quarters. Those with homes outside the city immediately took to them, and those without were suddenly reconsidering their living arrangements.
By Samantha Brooks / July 16, 2020
Located just 90 miles north of the city, Silo Ridge features 245 homes over 800 acres—as well as a host of amenities including an 18-hole golf course, horseback riding, hiking, and river rafting. The project is located just outside Millbrook and Amenia and has been developed by our Visionary of the Year Mike Meldman’s Discovery Land Company. Pictured here, is a four-bedroom home on .3 acres with views of the 18th green and fairway.
More than 100 members were on property throughout March, April, and May. To keep members—and their children—entertained, Silo Ridge offered virtual bingo, a photographer to take photos of residents on their porches, plenty of provisions, member contests including “chopped challenges” and a tie-dye challenge, Zoom workouts with experts, a cookie bake-off, and more.
When it comes to work, high-speed internet is available throughout the property, and as members are considering staying at Silo Ridge full time this fall, Silo Ridge will offer private conference spaces, which can be used for conference calls, Zoom meetings, or even tutoring sessions for the younger members.