Suncadia is a planned

Planned community

A planned community, or planned city, is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed in a previously undeveloped area. This contrasts with settlements that evolve in a more ad hoc fashion. Land use conflicts are less frequent in planned communities since...

 unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 and resort in Kittitas County, Washington, covering an area of 6,300 acres (25.5 km²). It is located approximately 80 miles (130 km) east of Seattle

Seattle, Washington

Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...

 in the Cascade Mountains

Cascade Range

The Cascade Range is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, and the notable volcanoes known as the High Cascades...

 between Roslyn

Roslyn, Washington

Roslyn is a city in Kittitas County, Washington, United States. The population was 893 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Roslyn is located at...

, Cle Elum

Cle Elum, Washington

Cle Elum is a city in Kittitas County, Washington, United States. The population was 1,872 at the 2010 census. Only an hour and a half's drive from Seattle, Cle Elum is a popular area for camping and outdoor activities.-Early years and industries:...

, and the Mountains to Sound Greenway

Mountains To Sound Greenway

The Mountains to Sound Greenway is a magnificent 1.5 million-acre landscape providing bountiful opportunities for people to connect with nature, enjoy stellar outdoor recreation and scenic views as well as a quality of life that is deeply connected to our surroundings...

 section of Interstate 90

Interstate 90

Interstate 90 is the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It is the northernmost coast-to-coast interstate, and parallels US 20 for the most part. Its western terminus is in Seattle, at Edgar Martinez Drive S. near Safeco Field and CenturyLink Field, and its eastern terminus is in...

.

The resort is a joint undertaking between Jeld-Wen

JELD-WEN

Jeld-Wen is a corporation with over 150 divisions and 20,000 employees worldwide. The business manufactures building products, including windows, interior and exterior doors, and garage doors. Jeld-Wen owns several distribution facilities and operates several resort properties...

 and managing partner Lowe Enterprises. When completed, the $1 billion project will feature a mountain lodge with convention center facilities, village center with restaurants and shops, a mountain springs themed spa, a sports center with indoor and outdoor swimming pools, an outdoor venue amphitheater/lake with winter ice skating

Ice skating

Ice skating is moving on ice by using ice skates. It can be done for a variety of reasons, including leisure, traveling, and various sports. Ice skating occurs both on specially prepared indoor and outdoor tracks, as well as on naturally occurring bodies of frozen water, such as lakes and...

, trails and recreational areas, 2,000 residential units, and three golf course

Golf course

A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...

s. Two of the golf courses have been completed as of 2006.

Over 500 single-family homesites were sold in 2004, generating more than $125 million in gross revenue.

The community's open space includes a 1200 acres (4.9 km²) corridor along the Cle Elum River

Cle Elum River

The Cle Elum River is a tributary of the Yakima River, approximately 28 miles long in the U.S. state of Washington.The river originates in the Cascade Range near Mount Daniel and flows generally south, through Hyas Lake. The river is joined by many tributary streams including Waptus River and...

, which remains open to the public under a partnership (called the Suncadia Conservancy) that also includes Washington's Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Yakama Nation

Yakama

The Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, or simply Yakama Nation , is a Native American group with nearly 10,000 enrolled members, living in Washington. Their reservation, along the Yakima River, covers an area of approximately 1.2 million acres...

. The interests of local citizens in aspects of the development that included the corridor were represented by RIDGE, a grassroots

Grassroots

A grassroots movement is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures...

 group.

Suncadia, originally called "MountainStar," is being built on former forest lands purchased in 1996 from Plum Creek Timber

Plum Creek Timber

Plum Creek Timber is the largest private landowner in the United States. Most of its lands were originally purchased, or otherwise acquired as timberland....

Company by Jeld-Wen's Trendwest Investments.

External links

• Official website
• Aerial view of Suncadia and Roslyn, from RIDGE's website