Bucking The Real Estate Trend-Waynesville and Maggie Valley Real Estate

By DAWN WOTAPKA

Francie Black

Tiger Woods stands last year at the location of the 18th green at the Cliffs at High Carolina, the first course he has designed in the U.S.

ASHEVILLE, N.C.—Golf-resort developer Jim Anthony seemed to have pulled off a major coup by signing Tiger Woods to design the superstar’s first U.S. course at a 3,200-acre community in the high meadows of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Since that deal in 2007, the value of the Tiger Woods name looks a bit more questionable in the wake of claims about his alleged infidelities that have destroyed his wholesome image. The development near Asheville, named the Cliffs at High Carolina, has been confronted by the same dilemma faced by dozens of companies that paid Mr. Woods enormous amounts to endorse their products: maintain the ties with the Tiger brand or cut him loose.

“I’m sure the Cliffs will probably change their marketing focus now,” said Nancy Thompson, a real-estate broker who has lived in Asheville for 15 years.

So far, the Cliffs is standing by Mr. Woods even as sponsors including Accenture Ltd. and AT&T Inc. have distanced themselves from the golfer.

“We’re as committed as ever to High Carolina and the Tiger Woods golf course,” Mr. Anthony said in a recent interview. “The reasons we chose Tiger are still true: his dedication to golf and he is the greatest golfer in the world.”

The Cliffs is one of many golf resorts struggling with the economic downturn that has eroded demand for luxury homes adjoining golf courses. Sales of lots priced from the high-$400,000 range to $3 million have been slow since the development’s introduction in August 2007. County records show 39 property transfers as of Jan. 26. Five more are under contract. The Cliffs plan envisions 1,200 homes by the end of the decade.

A video of Mr. Woods touting his course that could debut next year remains on the development’s Web site despite certain parts that are rich with irony. “With a wife and two kids, your perspective in life changes…. I want to come up here as often as I possibly can,” says the father of two young children. Mr. Woods also remains on advertising billboards for the development. Mr. Woods’s design company couldn’t be reached to comment. Its Web site touts courses planned for Dubai and Mexico.

But dealing with the economy might be trickier. Luxury housing developments mixed with golf courses enjoyed a boom before the recession, as developers poured millions into new courses linked with big-name golfers. Typically, developers built the courses, infrastructure and core amenities like clubhouses and made their money by selling high-priced lots.

But some North Carolina projects have failed as sales have cratered, while others are struggling. The Balsam Mountain Preserve, a high-end development in the western North Carolina mountains faced a notice of foreclosure in October. In Hendersonville, N.C., the Seven Falls Golf and River Club, site of the world’s first Arnold Palmer Premier Club, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year.

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Francie BlackJim Anthony, founder and CEO of the Cliffs Communities, at High Carolina in 2009.

—Jennifer S. Forsyth

contributed to this article.

Write to Dawn Wotapka at dawn.wotapka@dowjones.com