Lake

• Lifeguard stands every 50 meters
• Permanent lane ropes
• 8-10' deep
• Crystal clear water

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This looks amazing! I live here in Wilmington and have heard this rumor for quite a while. I’m so excited it’s finally going to happen. I’ve raced in this area for a number of years and Setup Events is the only group that I can think of around here that could pull this off. They’ve been around forever and put on great races (like Beach2Battleship, which I just broke 16 hours in…personal happy dance…but that’s a different story).

Desert Dude, I’ve got to call you out on something. You obviously don’t know Wilmington very well. I’ve lived here for fifteen years. As someone who is originally from Columbia, SC , I appreciate how relatively cool Wilmington is in the summer. There’s no place on earth as hot as Columbia! I’m not sure where you went to school (East Carolina, Campbell, NC St. ?), but you can go 50 miles inland (White Lake) and the temp will be 10 degrees hotter. That’s the benefit of being on the ocean. And our winters are mild. People in Wilmington can comfortably ride outdoors 355 days a year. Again the benefit of the ocean and the gulfstream. Weather wise – I can’t think of a better place than Wilmington.

As far as a pool goes, I’m not sure if that is in the eventual plan, but I would much rather be able to practice open water swimming. A pool is a pool. I can swim in a pool anywhere. But here I can swim and then actually bike and run somewhere that I don’t have to worry about crazy drivers sharing the road. I think that’s the biggest advantage. Our ocean water temp around here is over 60 degrees 8 months a year and over 70 degrees 6 months a year. I think people will be able to train in the TriHabitat lake comfortably 9 months a year with a wetsuit – and I don’t know about you – but I’m wearing a wetsuit whenever I can anyway.

At any rate, just sticking up for my hometown. I can tell you that everyone who I’ve spoken with is super excited about Trihabitat coming here.

I hope this is economically feasible, but I have my doubts..

I remember 6-8 years ago an endurance village (more cycling than triathlon) was planned for up in the Blue Ridge Mountains.. From what I can tell, that never happened.


The original investment for one of these types of endeavors isn't the problem. The problem is the operating costs, and keeping the place looking good and operational. This plan is ambitious, and will take a huge flow of cash to keep it solvent.

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Austin Hardy -

Awesome!!! I am tired of the same old boring "MOST AWESOME ABANDONED PLACES" clickbait. This is going to be so hauntingly cool in 10 years, partially completed and overgrown.

Yes.

I don't think the Pla d'Adet/Hincapie thing is directly comparable. Initial investment was the entire problem for that project. If they had found enough people willing to shell out the ~$1m price tag for a home there it would have been up and running. The operating costs would have been funded out of the association fees charged to homeowners. The fitness center/clubhouse/whatever other amenities they were planning didn't seem all that unusual for a high-end gated community. The Hincapie/cycling tie-in seemed like more of a marketing gimmick than anything. The real estate market cratering in 2008/2009 likely had as much to do with that project's demise as anything else.

TriHabitat sounds more comparable to something like a golf course or maybe a downhill ski area. Their biggest challenge is that they are not going to be able to charge anywhere near golf course or ski area prices.

But they are certainly going to try. 100$ for a sprint is ludicrous.

Hey James, we get it. You no likey. Let me go find a picture of a dead horse so you can cyber beat it.

I didn't say I didn't like it, you are making assumptions.

So do you like it?

I like the idea of the facility..

SCtriChic - I'm with you - always amazed how many "experts" live on this forum - just constantly trolling.

It's a great concept and I'll be among the first to sign up for a race there. They have some pretty smart and experienced people involved in this - I think they may know what they're doing.

The thing is... when it comes to all things triathlon, many who post here are experts.

I would love to see this thing succeed and even be replicated elsewhere. But if I were asked to invest my own money in this venture based on the information that has been publicly released to date? Hell no.

Haha, you're funny. There's only one person that's posted in this thread that likely knows more about this project than I do.

exactly.

I just think it sounds really cool. And I hope it will be successful. I plan on going there as soon as it opens and forming my own opinion rather than try to pick it apart before it's built. It sounds like triathlete/swim/bike/run and all in between Disneyland. Can't wait to see the real thing. But that's just me...I like to form my own opinions.

Yeah yeah, everybody hopes it will be successful sweetheart. It will definitely succeed at something, most likely here:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/17-amazing-photographs-of-abandoned-places-180949341/?no-ist

I think the point is that it's probably never going to open in the first place, looks like nothing more than a funding drive right now. Hope it does, bit seems like a major pipe dream. Will take tens of millions to build, and struggle to pull in more than some pocket change compared to the ongoing maintenance costs. From an investors standpoint this looks like a nightmare

I guess time will tell. I know I'll be there opening day.

And "sweetheart"? Really?

Same exact opinion, ran this by my wife (CFO of a small company) and very investment savvy and she said "heck no". I think if this stays a Tri facility it will never get off the ground but if they can be diverse it might be able to stay afloat. As a roadie i see potential in a very safe road race series and crit series. The 14 mile lap is perfect for road races and a good TT distance. You could do a friday night crit series and a wednesday night TT series and have a saturday road race every few weeks or some kind of series. Add in cross races and possibly setting up some good single track and you can have MTB races. A really good bike shop could also be key as it would be a draw for people to come for various reasons and get in a workout.

Then you can attract swim events with the pool such as higher level competitions and the OWS crowd. The running crowd might also be enticed since there is no need to close off the roads and it would be an easy 13.1/10k/5k venue. You could even appeal to a spartan race as the facilities are there and they have a lot to work with. But if they are 100% focused on triathlon it will die a quick death, the debt will not be so quick and painless :)

I suspect you are right.

The state of Maryland and Garrett County did something similar for canoe/kayaking. Built this insane, world-class man-made facility using $23m of federal, state, county, and private money. It's a dream facility for the small world of competitive white water kayakers. It was supposed to be this boon for the county and bring in all these active tourists. Instead, it sits effectively unused burning up big money in maintenance costs. It was a public/private affair and the private part went bankrupt and the county absorbed the debt and took it over. But, it won't be long before the county wants that anchor off it's books and the facility becomes another item in the abandoned places click-baits.

I wish it luck. I really do. But, I wouldn't invest my money in the venture, that's for sure.

I'm sorry, I mistook your blind enthusiasm for that of an adolescent girl.

Ohhh. That burned. FYI: you really shouldn't call adolescent girls sweetheart either. Kind of creepy.

Maybe I'm just not old and crotchety enough yet to view everything through pessimistic eyes. And I hope I never am.

Good luck tri habitat! You have a lot of supporters that are very excited about training and racing in your facility.

I don't want to come across as a Debbie downer (too late for that probably) but we are talking about a 30 MILLION dollar facility (projected) plopped down in a region that can barely support the existing tri scene run by a guy that historically seems to bully his way through the market at the head of a race company that has seen remarkably dwindling numbers in a participants/race context over the past two to three years.

I am scared of what it implies for the area.

but it IS pretty neat.

A shining example of how to do just THAT but way better is the US National Whitewater Center here in CLT. But it was not so pretty at first...