June 28, 2010
“With 42-million tourists a year coming to 'The OC' for the excitement it offers, there’s no question Garden Grove is bringing a water park hotel so unique, dynamic, and fun that fits perfectly into the kind of attractions you’ll only find in Southern California,” says Garden Grove City Manager Matt Fertal.
Today, the City of Garden Grove announced a signed agreement with Great Wolf Resorts, Inc® for the development of a Great Wolf Lodge® water park resort in Garden Grove’s World Famous InternationalWEST resort area.
The project, located about one mile from the Disneyland® Resort, will offer guests a 10-plus story, 600-room hotel containing 30,000 square-feet of meeting space, with its own attached water park. The project will generate an estimated $8 million per year in tax revenue for the City and create up to 600 construction and permanent jobs.
Great Wolf Resorts, Inc.® is North America’s largest family of indoor water park resort hotels. Great Wolf Lodge® locations include Williamsburg, VA; Niagara Falls, Ontario; Mason, OH; Grapevine, TX; Grand Mound, WA; and Concord, NC. The company’s resorts are family-oriented destination facilities that generally feature 300 to 600 rooms and a large indoor entertainment area.
“It’s a development like no other, and one that will bring more than just waves of tourists to Garden Grove. It’s a means to a better, more attractive, and more financially solid community. It’s the shot in the arm every city wishes it had, especially in these kind of economic times,” says Fertal.
Slated for completion in 2013, Garden Grove’s water park hotel joins nine other premier hotels and several popular restaurants that comprise the World Famous InternationalWEST resort area.
The new project complements other recent and upcoming attractions to the region’s most popular tourist center, including Disney California Adventure™ Park’s new World of Color light show.
In May 2009, the Garden Grove City Council, acting as the Agency for Community Development, unanimously gave developer McWhinney Enterprises, Inc., the go-ahead for the project.
According to Chad McWhinney, CEO and co-founder of McWhinney Enterprises, “We are pleased to be partnering with Great Wolf Resorts in developing a first-class destination. Our expertise as a comprehensive developer on the West Coast, combined with Great Wolf’s leading brand in indoor water park resorts, is sure to result in a successful family destination.”
For more information, visit the Garden Grove InternationalWEST website at www.internationalwest.com.
