Whether a yes or a no, Elk Stone at Lake Norris will have a ripple effect

‘It’s not a yes or a no, it’s a how’- Tracy Lobertini, Alco Builders & Realty, on proposed development

By Jim Freeman

LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF)- The late Paul Fields dream of developing Deerfield Resort on Norris Lake continues coming true. The almost 40 year old development now has hundreds of front doors, condos and homes. I say that to say this. A somewhat similar development is being proposed in the Shanghai community, Elk Stone at Lake Norris, and it is a hot button topic around Campbell County.

“Do we want more development or do we not need more development? I think that’s the bigger discussion that Campbell County has to decide,” said Tracy Lobertini, owner of Alco Builders & Reality.

“Coal mining is gone. Factories are leaving. All we have are tourism and second homes. We better lean into it. What else do we have?”, Lobertini said.

“The lakefront community, as a whole, has a substantial impact on the total tax base. It generates a large amount of tax revenue for Campbell County,” said Property Assessor Brandon Partin.

There are workers and service providers going and coming from Deerfield daily. Landscapers, plumbers, repairmen, someone building a dock frequent the Deerfield community.

“Deerfield is an older development, and the proposed 600 home development might generate more revenue for the county,” said Partin.

There will be a positive economic impact on every structure that is built. “From utilities to taking out a mortgage to opening a bank account to a real estate agent making a sale, there is such an economic impact for each house,” said Lobertini. On that note, Lobertini adds that a $5,000 economic impact fee could be added to each home generating $3 million to cover roads, schools, utilities and such.

A computer simulation of 600 homes at a $700,000 build cost comes out to $420 million of construction spending over the build time. If only half that construction spending was spent locally, it would still be more than $200 million. This is a rough number, but you typically can calculate $100,000 in construction spending will generate one job year of employment, according to Lobertini.

“Deerfield Resort has approximately 890 total pieces of property within the Deerfield community,” said Partin. When comparing residential property across the county, excluding commercial property, Deerfield accounts for 10.12% of property tax revenue. That comes out to 7.39% counting all county properties, based on the Assessment Summary for Campbell County.

“If you have 500 acres on Norris Lake that cannot be developed at the end of Demory Road because Demory Road’s too narrow or there’s too much traffic, what does that mean for other land in that area to be developed? If you can’t develop that, then you can’t develop this,” said Lobertini. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-12/17/2025-6AM-IMAGES COURTESY OF CAREX DESIGN GROUP AND CRAFTED MILESTONE)

The developer of the proposed Elk Stone at Lake Norris community is Crafted Milestone LLC. On its website, it is said that Crafted Milestone was founded in January 2022 by two seasoned developers with more than 40 years of combined experience in land development and community building. Rooted in our home state of East Tennessee, our journey began with a shared vision: to create places where families can live, connect, and thrive. What started as a passion for land and craftsmanship has grown into a respected development company with projects across the Southeast region of The United States.