Aug. 8--GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas--Wildflower Resort Co. has a plan to turn the brush and marshes on Joe Pool Lake's west shore peninsula into a resort with a four-star hotel, conference center and a golf course designed by stars Jack Nicklaus and Sergio Garcia. 

It's hardly an original idea. 

Three other developers over the last seven years have outlined similar visions for the area. But not a shovel of dirt has been turned. 

This time, real estate analysts say, the economic conditions may turn the dream into a resort reality. 

"They've run out of land," said Ted Wilson, partner at Residential Strategies Inc. in Dallas. "This project's time has come because it's in the growth path." 

Wildflower's surveyors are staking out the golf course and taking soil borings in hopes of opening the $200 million project by late 2004. 

"This is an extraordinary piece of property that is 20 minutes from the arrival gates of one of the largest airports in the country," said Raymond Goad, Wildflower's president and chief executive. 

Wildflower officials hope to have financing secured by the end of this year, Mr. Goad said. 

That could be tough, given that the economy is struggling to emerge from recession, said Pete DeKalb, managing director of Horwath Hospitality Investment Advisors. "The lodging and golf industries are clearly struggling," he said. "This Wildflower group would have to have compelling feasibility and proven experience." 

He added, however, that hard times can provide the best development opportunities. "By the time you're ready to open, the industry is coming out of the trough," he said. 

The property has proved attractive to a variety of developers since 1995, when Singletary Golf Services and De Palma Hotel Corp. outlined plans for a development they christened Hawk's Ridge Resort. The plan collapsed when the group couldn't get financing. Some of the Singletary partners regrouped in 1998 to form Estes Park Development Corp. -- named after the nearby lakeside park -- but they also failed to secure financing. 

Foreclosure was imminent last year when Wildflower officials approached city leaders about taking Estes' 99-year lease. Mr. Goad, who served as a consultant to Estes, said "the group did not have any prior experience in this type of development. They underestimated the scope of the project." 

Mr. Goad is a former vice president for Westin Hotels. He is confident that Wildflower can succeed where others failed. "We have the experience in developing a major group-meeting facility that would include a luxury hotel," he said. 

--A version of this report appears in the Thursday editions of the Arlington Morning News and Grand Prairie Morning News. 

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