The shores of Bear Lake are dotted with housing developments, condos and restaurants that cater to the roughly one million tourists who visit the turquoise-blue oasis each summer.
At Garden City’s Water’s Edge Resort — which claims it’s becoming the lake’s first and only truly waterfront resort community — guests can browse a vintage-inspired candy store or a surf shop that evokes California’s Ventura Beach. They can relax at a spa or grab burgers and one of the region’s famous raspberry shakes at Cody’s Gastro Garage.
But just behind that up-and-running front of Water’s Edge is a half-finished condo building with an exterior of exposed plywood and tattered house wrap.
The unfinished building is a far cry from the expansive vacation units and glitzy amenities — including a hotel, indoor water park, valet boat service and an outdoor concert stage — promised in the resort’s renderings.
And now, the Securities and Exchange Commission is accusing developer Utah Regional Investment Fund, led by Christofer Shurian, of fraud — pointing to the wide gap between what Water’s Edge is today and what investors and the U.S. government were promised it would be by now.
To read the full report, visit sltrib.com.