Hoffmann projects stall in Augusta. Company scraps helicopter tours.

A rendering of the 12-hole golf course to be built on land behind at Balducci Vineyards is shown on Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021. The new course is part of investor David Hoffmann's plans to transform the Augusta wine country. But the course is being redesigned after encountering "rough terrain" in the hills surrounding the vineyard.

AUGUSTA — The company that is spending tens of millions of dollars to remake wine country here is running into some stumbling blocks as it works toward redeveloping these rolling hills and valleys.

The Florida-based Hoffmann Family of Companies, which started buying land and wineries here about three years ago, now says plans are delayed for two luxury hotels. Challenging terrain means it needs to redesign the proposed 12-hole golf course. It's scrapping the helicopter rides altogether. The company is even getting pushback on designs for a long-awaited overhaul of Augusta's Town Square Park.

Some Augusta residents say its high time for Hoffmann to get the work done it promised.

"We’ve been kicking this can for almost three years now," said Augusta Town Board Trustee Randal Oaks, who has helped spearhead efforts to reimagine the city park that also doubles as the community's festival area.

A trolley shuttling visitors between different wineries in Augusta rolls down Jackson Street in Augusta, Mo. on Friday, May 7, 2021. The Hoffmann Family of Companies recently acquired four wineries in Augusta and have plans to develop Augusta into a national winery and vineyard destination. Photo by David Carson, [email protected]

Hoffmann announced in 2021 it would spend up to $150 million purchasing existing wineries, planting new vineyards, constructing a hotel and convention center, building a golf course and opening a five-star restaurant, among other things, all aimed at making Augusta a rival to California's famed Napa Valley, the company said.

Since then, Hoffmann has purchased or renovated more than 50 buildings in Augusta and opened several new businesses. The company's Missouri CEO, Don Simon, said it is readying to open a nail salon in Augusta and a new bicycle rental shop in nearby Dutzow. In total, Hoffmann owns more than 700 acres in Augusta and employs more than 500 in Augusta and Washington, across the Missouri River, making the firm one of the area's largest employers.

But Hoffmann made big promises when it started years ago. And it's finding some are taking longer than first hoped.

Investor David Hoffmann has closed on his acquisition of nearly 50 acres off Highway 94, between Jackson and Church Street, in Augusta. Hoffmann plans to build a hotel on the site as part of his $100 million plan to revamp Augusta into a national wine destination.

The Hoffmann Lodge & Spa was originally presented as a 15,000-square-foot, 65-room hotel and conference center that would be built on a 79-acre undeveloped property in Augusta. It was expected to open this year.

But Simon said this week it's still in the planning stages, more than two years after plans were first announced.

"It just takes some time to do a project that size," Simon said.

Plans for the 18-room boutique hotel on the former Emmaus Home campus in rural Marthasville, announced in July 2021, are back in the hands of architects. The luxury inn, known as Chateau Hoffmann, is "trickier than a new-build project," because it aims to repurpose existing buildings, Simon said. But it's still in the works.

The Hoffman Family of Companies signed a letter of intent to purchase the Emmaus Homes Campus in Marthasville, as seen on Thursday, May 13, 2021. The property which dates back to 1859, began as a German Evangelical Church, is planned to turned into employee housing for people working at Hoffman's properties they're developing around Augusta. Photo by David Carson, [email protected]

Simon also said the planned 12-hole par-three golf course is being redesigned after encountering "rough terrain" in the hills surrounding Balducci Vineyards.

"It is still 100 percent our intention to put a golf course in Augusta," Simon said. But the specific location on the winery grounds might change, he said.

And Hoffmann is altogether scrapping plans to offer helicopter tours, Simon said. The company first pitched leaving from a landing pad near one of the hotels — but residents complained that the flights would have been too close to a local church and cemeteries. Then Hoffmann suggested flights depart from nearby Washington Regional Airport — but the city of Washington, which owns the airport, wasn't interested.

"No one is talking about offering helicopter rides anymore," Simon said.

Multiple projects are moving forward, Simon said: Construction of the planned large outdoor amphitheater at Balducci, for instance, is on track; the company expects to see the live music venue make its debut this fall with regional and national bands.

But Town Square Park in Augusta is still a work in progress.

A four-way spring ride is seen Wednesday, June 7, 2023 in Town Square Park at the center of Augusta, Mo. The park grounds are slated for an update, courtesy of the Hoffmann Family of Companies — developers with ambitions to turn the small wine town into an international tourist destination.

Hoffmann has said it would provide new playground equipment and add restrooms. But the debate this week was on a 24-foot by 24-foot gazebo in the park.

On Monday night, residents met with Hoffmann representatives at a town board meeting to talk through the gazebo. More than a dozen people attended.

And tensions rose some: Hoffmann wanted the gazebo in one spot in the park; Augusta's festival planners wanted it in another. They worried the location could crowd the site and cause congestion during festivals.

Simon groused a little: "I’ve sat in Arizona with 15,000 people on a project and they didn't have this many questions," he said at one point in the meeting. "It's a conceptual drawing, that's it."

Still, by the end of the meeting, it appeared the sides had agreed.

"It honestly has been every bit of six months to get everyone on the same page, and to have a clear plan that we can move forward with," Simon said later. "I think the whole thing has been very methodically planned."

He said the gazebo will cost the company between $30,000 and $40,000. Hoffmann is also donating the cost of designing the new park layout, which includes space for updated playground equipment, a walking path, and a water fountain.

JoAnn Milster, president of the Greater Augusta Chamber of Commerce, said she is pleased to see the investments.

"They had lots of ideas, but I don't think that a lot of those ideas had been fleshed out," Milster said of Hoffmann's arrival. "It has taken them some time, but they are following through on what they said they would do and are being good neighbors for Augusta."

Officials hope to finish the first round of park upgrades by mid-September, when the community hosts its annual Harvest Festival.

Chuck Dressel, the former owner and current manager of Mount Pleasant Estates winery, talks about the changes taking place in Augusta as the Hoffmann Family of Companies begins to pour money into the town for renovations and updates aimed at turning the town into a national winery and vineyard destination.

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