The new general manager of Hot Springs Village says that while the gated community is 40 years old, it remains practically a clean slate when it come to future development.
“One of the things that drew me here is that the community is only 26 percent developed,” said David Twiggs, who took the position as general manager five weeks ago. “This is the largest community of this type in the nation with 26,000 acres, most of it untouched, so we can change our image for a new generation with different values and interests.”
Twiggs, who has had an extensive career in planned communities, said he is working with the community on a new vision of Hot Springs Village that will bring more growth to the community as the economy improves.
“On one hand, we are not a resort community in the traditional sense, and we are moving away from being known as a retirement community,” he said. “People relocate for more than just retirement, but for a lifestyle where they can do the things they have been wanting to do.”
Over an hour-long conversation, Twiggs touched on new ideas for a “destination community,” which would have been unheard of a decade ago.
“The old golf community is no longer relevant,” he said. “Golf will still be strong, along with the lakes, but we need to continue to develop a more rounded lifestyle and more diverse community.”
The population of Hot Springs Village may always include a majority of retired residents, but Twiggs said the community must offer a mix for all kinds of families. He pointed out that there are already younger families living in the Village since nearly 1,000 children come from the community to area schools each day.
“There may be different kinds of homes coming into the community, from $100,000 to $5 million, and that kind of diversity is important to the baby boomers,” Twiggs said. “We don’t build golf courses anymore; you need more than that. We are the gateway to the Ouachita Mountains, and we should reflect that, be a part of the region and evolve for new generations of residents.”
The new general manager said his vision of a community has been shaped by Charles E. Fraser, developer of Hilton Head Island resort community.
“He had a philosophy of bringing in ideas and including all the elements of a real community,” Twiggs said. “I want to build community and not just a community. This is about people and their lives, not just real estate.”
Although the community is 40 years old, it still offers many advantages to attract new residents and commercial development as well, he said.
“Hot Springs Village is not a concept — 14,000 people live here — it is a real place,” Twiggs said. “We can do new concepts, and development will be easier with our existing infrastructure. We are not reliant on the future, but the future is the fun part.”
He said the size of the community also makes a diversity of development possible.
“Most planned communities are a tenth the size of this one,” Twiggs said. “We can have 15,000 new residents and still be a woodland area. We can do a variety of other things and create conditions that will attract businesses to come in and join us.”
Twiggs was raised in western North Carolina, near Boone, close to the Blue Ridge Parkway, and he grew up around resorts and planned communities.
“My first job was at Ski Beech Mountain
Resort. I fell into recreation,” he said. “Being raised in Boone and Blowing Rock, I saw the tourism industry all around me, and I liked it and the idea of helping people enjoy themselves.”
He studied commercial recreation and tourism at Appalachian State University in Boone, but like many new graduates took a job in something totally different.
“I got involved in nuclear power and studied physics in Florida,” Twiggs said. “But I returned to Boone and went to graduate school and studied public administration. I had seen towns grow, but the quality of life dropped, and so I was interested in better urban planning.”
Right out of school he was made city manager for Plymouth, N.C. Twiggs said it was a small community of fewer than 4,000 people, but the experience he gained there was helpful when he joined his first private, planned community.
“It was Linville Land Harbor, about 1,000 acres,” he said. “I think they liked that I had training in recreation and tourism, but I also had experience in water systems and waste management.”
Twiggs’ career brought him to north Georgia, where he rebuilt a mountain-valley golf course and learned about food and beverage service at the resort.
“I started equestrian programs — that was bringing my work and personal interests in together.”
Twiggs not only is a horseman, but he is an enthusiastic fox hunter in the English style of mounted hunting.
“I am bringing four horses with us,” he said. “I go to no-kill hunts and ride, but it is all still about the dogs.
The Village’s new general manager came from Savannah Lakes Village, a golf and outdoor community on Lake Thurmond on the South Carolina side of the state’s border with Georgia.
What is Twiggs’ biggest challenge as the new general manager for Hot Springs Village? He had a quick answer.
“We have to be relevant for future customers, while always meeting the needs of our current residents,” Twiggs said. “We keep the desired things in the community and even try to make them better, yet we still evolve. We cannot think of ourselves as an island and just focus everything internally, we have to become what new people want.”
Even attracting new retirees will be different than it has been in the past, he said. “Security is important, but boomers are joiners and being exclusive is not important to that generation.”
Twiggs said the community will need new places for the arts, music and food — all local.
“Fifteen years ago you didn’t have to be unique, but now we have to offer something different,” he said. “Most of the people who move here have made a decision to move to the South, and we have to use that and be authentic. We need to be Arkansas and not generic.
Some of Twiggs’ ideas include featuring regional chefs from Little Rock and other places around the state.
“We have craft brewers in the area, and we can feature them, along with down-home music,” he said. “New residents will want social occasions and a lifestyle, not just real estate.”
With plenty of land available, Twiggs said the Village may look to build not just new houses but entire communities revolving around attractions like a canoeing and kayaking club.
“I tell people that management is just our tool,” he said. “Our product is the quality of life offered the residents.”
Staff writer Wayne Bryan can be contacted at (501) 244-4460 or at wbryan@arkansasonline.com.