Construction (and Misinformation) Starts

This past Monday, a social media post with AI-edited renderings from someone else (shown all the way below) about our project reached thousands of regional community members neighbors who weren’t familiar with us.

Because we only began construction in January and there was little context shared in the social media post, it triggered a fast-moving comment storm, a surge of traffic to our website over 24 hours, and many new subscribers.

So, if you’re new here, welcome. We wanted to (re)introduce ourselves and provide a simple update based on the questions and concerns we saw. The short video above covers who we are and discussions around both environmental and community impacts. We also include an Appendix with written notes below as well.

Moving forward, we’ll share periodic updates as major milestones are reached, and we’ll continue to make information available for those who want specifics. As always, please reach out to Greg McCarley (gregm@wellmorepartners.com) or me (mikem@wellmorepartners.com) anytime with questions or concerns.

APPENDIX

We are building a nature-rooted retreat designed around restoration, environmental stewardship, and respect for the local community.

Limited Development, Long-Term Protection: Less than 10% of the property will be disturbed and our tree clearing is approximately 4% of the land. The overwhelming majority of the property will remain preserved and actively restored. Prior to our stewardship, the property operated as a tree farm and had experienced years of under-maintenance. Our work focuses on rehabilitating the landscape, improving soil health, restoring biodiversity, and supporting the return of native bird, plant, and wildlife habitats. A key initiative includes efforts to help restore the American chestnut forest — once a defining species of this region — as part of a broader ecological restoration strategy.

Preventing Overdevelopment: We have made formal agreements with the county to limit expansion and density. In doing so, this project helped prevent the property from becoming a large-scale residential housing development that would have introduced 40-125 houses and significantly altered the natural landscape as well as creating 4-12x the traffic. Our approach prioritizes preservation over expansion.

A Community-Focused Vision: Our goal extends beyond property boundaries. We are exploring creative ways to collaborate with neighbors, local organizations, and the broader community to co-create a nature- and wellness-focused environment that promotes connection, education, and shared stewardship. We’re integrating deeply with our local rural economy and estimate that over the next decade over $200M of our spending will be retained within the local community. While much of this will occur through local employee salaries, it also includes many other Shenandoah Valley resources, including construction companies, artists, craftsmen, farming/agricultural partners, etc.

Operationalizing Sustainability: We believe our development strategy will honor the natural world while setting new benchmarks for sustainability: fossil fuel–free operations, 100% geothermal heating and cooling, 40% lower embodied carbon in our buildings, zero single-use plastics, an ambitious composting and recycling program, etc. We’re also sourcing 100% of our proteins and 75% of other ingredients within 150 miles—free from growth hormones and synthetic chemicals.

Endowment Scholarships: We've created a nonprofit organization focused on serving veterans, first responders, and other individuals recovering from trauma. The intention is to create a safe, calm environment where healing and personal growth can occur in nature. We believe access to wellness and restorative spaces should be inclusive and will be donating ~20% of our profits to fund ~10,000 awards over the first six years.

This project is rooted in environmental stewardship, guest wellbeing, and community benefit. We understand change can raise questions, and we encourage everyone to review our principles, ask questions, and engage with us directly. Transparency and collaboration are essential to building trust.

AI RENDERINGS (unauthorized, from a third-party)