Sports Illustrated Resort in Tuscaloosa plans to draw heavily on Crimson local color

A triumvirate of icons — The Crimson Tide, Sports Illustrated, Travel + Leisure — are teaming to develop an active entertainment-vacation resort in Tuscaloosa, expected to reach kickoff by late 2025.

"Two years ago we publicly said we were going to be looking for iconic brands to grow vacation clubs," said Geoff Richards, chief operating officer of vacation ownership at Travel + Leisure Co.

More: A rising tide: Tuscaloosa visitors spent $895 million in 2022, tourism group says

"Sports Illustrated is definitely the most iconic brand in active-life publications," he said, "and when you think about college campuses, the University of Alabama stands out.

"The University of Alabama has been on the cover of Sports Illustrated 41 times. No other university has been on that cover 41 times."

Other college-town resorts will be announced later, as will destination-city vacation spots, each drawing on local color and flavor. For Tuscaloosa, the resort will obviously be crimson-heavy, but should also be inspired by the oak-and-greenery appeal of the city, nearby flowing Black Warrior River from which Tuscaloosa grew, and from the state of Alabama's other natural and man-made attributes.

For a look at how Sports Illustrated leans into the curves of a region, see images of its Dominican Republic Cap Cana development, from the magazine's April 2023 swimsuit edition.

Aside from idyllic beaches, Cap Capa is also known as a hub of active lifestyle, which played into Sports Illustrated's choice, with the Caribbean's No. 1 golf course, a world-class biking course, new racquet center, avid sports fishing, and an ecological park, said Chris Schroeder, CEO of Sports Hospitality Ventures, LLC.

Because the Dominican Republic is famously home to generations of world-class baseball players, there's a 42-foot-long mural at the Cap Cana resort honoring that heritage.

"The thing about Sports Illustrated Resorts, we're a true active lifestyle brand," Schroeder said. "Obviously, we have a sports origin, but we're really writing about an active lifestyle."

Sports Illustrated developed Cap Cana before the Travel + Leisure teamup, so the Tuscaloosa resort will be the first of its kind.

"From our standpoint," Schroeder said, "Sports Illustrated resorts are always seeking the best partnerships. Geoff and Travel + Leisure seemed liked an obvious team, with quite the history, being the world leader in resort clubs. It's a perfect fit."

The combined companies did due-diligence in Tuscaloosa marketing research, studying things such as lodging figures, the growth of the UA campus — This fall the campus set another enrollment record, as it has done for years, now up to 39,623, beating the previous top of 38,645 in 2022 — and visitor spending, which hit $895 million in 2022.

And it didn't hurt that Travel + Leisure magazine recently named Tuscaloosa one of its top 25 college towns.

(A bit of corporate name-shuffling: Travel + Leisure Co. was formerly Wyndham Destinations, but changed its name in 2021,after acquiring the brand of the monthly high-end travel magazine, with publishing roots dating back to 1937. Travel + Leisure Co. has trademark rights, but licenses the name back to the magazine's publishers, Dotdash Meredith. Travel + Leisure Co., out of Orlando Fla., develops, sells, and manages vacation properties; offers consumer travel services and product; and operates travel technology businesses under its three divisions.)

"We were committed to having the first Sports Illustrated college resort at the home of the University of Alabama," Richards said.

With plans to build on Rice Mine Loop adjacent to the Randall Family Park and Trailhead, on land earlier marked as a potential mixed-use retail-residential-entertainment development called The Bend, the first Sports Illustrated Resort developed in collaboration with Travel + Leisure Co. is still in design phase.

But it expects to include a full-service hotel with between 135 and 150 keys, a vacation ownership club, residential condiminiums for about 60 to 70, an SI Fit Health/Wellness center that's considered high steps beyond an ordinary hotel gym, dining, retail and other entertainment options.

"We saw this especially during the pandemic, and it's continued," said Richards, speaking of the more than 200 North American destinations Travel + Leisure operates. "People want experiences."

One easy in to illustrate their idea is SI Fit.

"Forget what you know about a hotel gym," Schroeder said. "This is a whole new experience."

Unlike many hotel gyms, shallow after-thoughts with a few moribund stationary bikes, and maybe a hot tub, SI Fit will keep trainers on hand, experts in kinesiology and sports training, working with state-of-the-art equipment. Treadmills will churn green, actually putting electricity back into the grid.

"When we opened SI Fit in Cap Cana, several people were literally waiting for it to open, in the morning, it's become a hub," Schroeder said. And the Tuscaloosa version won't just be for hotel guests, or condo residents.

"We hope locals will want to have a Fit membership," he said, noting the intent of the resort as a year-around destination. "We really do want to engage the community."

The "experiential component" of the development including Sports Illustrated's vast stores of UA-related memorabilia, and possible events such as a concert series, will be open to all, Richards said.

"We're going to kind of immerse you in the history," he said, both of 70 years of Sports Illustrated, and the legends of the Crimson Tide. "We want this to be a gathering place for the community, the University of Alabama and Tuscaloosa community."

While researching Tuscaloosa, and other college towns, Richards saw the announcement about Tiger Woods' PopStroke locating one of its first smaller-city developments here. Currently under construction on Harper Lee Drive, expected to open in November it's maybe a mile or so by road, and bridge, from where the resort will be.

"PopStroke, that just affirmed for me our commitment, and the choice of Tuscaloosa as a growing market," he said. "I'm not a very good golfer, but it's not very far from where we'll be, as the crow flies.

"Not only did it confirm the market of the University of Alabama, but it also confirmed our location."

Though the two sports- and entertainment-themed announcements are only coincidental, the Sports Illustrated Resort will be just a few minutes by car from Tiger Woods' PopStroke, a family-friendly entertainment venue, with dining options, ice cream parlors, bars offering wine and craft beer, playgrounds and outdoor games.

Planning for the Rice Mine Loop acreage has been in talks for years, said Kyle South, CEO and president of the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama. Previously announced proposals for the land, adjacent to the Randall Family Park and Trailhead, had included a possible Southern Living-themed hotel, and then The Bend.

"Obviously, it's a potentially huge deal for the community, and developments north of the river," said South, who took over the top Chamber job July 1.

This development will be a "game-changer" for the city, said Norman Crow, city councilor for District 3, where the resort will grow.

"It's exciting to have a one-of-a-kind themed hotel connected to an iconic brand like Sports Illustrated," said Crow, who has been one of the small circle of UA and city officials included in the talks. "I think that, like PopStroke, it's going to be a year-around destination.""

Such positive growth, added to the long-awaited $65 million McWright's Ferry Road extension, the eventual extension of the northern Riverwalk, and expansion of the Woollsey Finnell Bridge (expected to include a pedestrain walkway, to link the UA/downtown Riverwalk to its northern sibling), may lead other good things to the area, Crow said.

"I'm just thrilled about it," he said. "I think we're developing the river the right way, which is so crucial."

Tuscaloosa landing this resort, along with PopStroke, speaks to Tuscaloosa a growing market, one that's recognized nationally, said Mayor Walt Maddox.

"To be the first campus site selected by them demonstrates our community is only only accomplishing a lot today, but working well into the future," Maddox said, adding that the hard work and good reputations of UA coaches Nick Saban (football), Nate Oats (basketball) and Patrick Murphy (softball) contribute to making Tuscaloosa a household name.

The resort will not only bring activities and entertainment to Tuscaloosans and visitors, but add to city-building revenues, and create jobs.

"We're in that national spotlight, and I'm very proud as a citizen, proud to be part of the team that brought that here," Maddox said.

Reach Mark Hughes Cobb at mark.cobb@tuscaloosanews.com.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Why Tuscaloosa was chosen for innovative Sports Illustrated resort