Though the Callaway family or the folks at Cousins Properties could have told you a few years ago that Callaway Gardens was in financial trouble, the public at-large just learned the details of the resort's money problems yesterday in a lengthy piece that appeared in the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. Leading the story was news that the Ida Cason Callaway Foundation- the nonprofit that owns the resort- will sell 4,000 acres of the property's total 13,000 to repay debt. Not surprised? Neither is anyone who has chosen to think critically about Callaway Gardens in the past several years. But that's the problem, there aren't too many people thinking about Callaway Gardens any more. Unfortunately for the resort's owners, this realization came after they spent a ton of money building a new, high-end'ish lodge and spa and developing new neighborhoods of homes (with Cousins) on the property just as the real estate bubble was about to reach "pop" stage.
· Callaway Gardens' financial landscape in despair [Columbus Ledger-Enquirer]