Steve Ladurantaye

Developer Earl Rumm

Friday Harbour sits at the mouth of an abandoned Lake Simcoe marina, a resort development that promises city-weary Torontonians a year-round escape from the blistering pace of their lives for less than the cost of a decent downtown condominium.

The developer is quick to talk up the 242-hectare site’s many amenities. The 2,000-some lakeside units, tucked in alongside a nature reserve, will range in price from $250,000 to a $1-million. They’ll eventually sit next to a new golf course, a 400-room hotel, an amphitheater and dozens of high-end shops and restaurants.

Buyers need not even worry about their carbon footprints. The site is about 12 kilometres from the Barrie South GO Station, meaning anyone with a decent bike could make the trip to cottage country without ever sticking a key into an ignition.

While it sounds pretty idyllic, reality is a little more complicated. Markham-based Geranium Corp. launches a massive marketing effort this weekend that will culminate with a sales centre opening in the fall, but the company won’t dwell on the 10-year legal battle that has dogged developer Earl Rumm every step of the way, costing both him and his opponents tens of millions of dollars.

Read the story in the Globe and Mail