Wild Rock West Virginia, an 850-acre sustainable residential community bordering the New River Gorge National River, has completed land acquisitions in Fayette County, paving the way for the company to begin property development and infrastructure activities this summer.

“Our goal is to ensure that this sustainable community moves forward and is a contributing neighbor in Fayette County and the area,” said Carl Frischkorn, president of Optima Properties West Virginia LLC. “We have preliminary zoning approval, have completed the acquisition of the land and are moving into the 50-lot phase one of Wild Rock. A number of founder investors have committed to building homes, and infrastructure will begin this summer.”

Infrastructure will include building interior roads and an entrance feature, landscaping, laying underground utilities and developing hiking and biking trails.

In January, Optima Properties closed on the purchase of 760 acres in Fayette County that is known as the Taylor Company Property, Frischkorn said.

This property is located just 2 miles north of Fayetteville and west of the New River Gorge Bridge near Ames Heights. Wild Rock West Virginia is bordered by the New River Gorge National River boundary and Mill Creek on Chestnutburg Road, and it surrounds the property owned by Class VI River Runners, a partner in the development project.

“We are ready to begin development and demonstrate that it is not only feasible but practical and worthwhile to build a sustainable community that offers the best of the area’s outdoor recreation and scenic beauty while taking seriously our responsibility to be good stewards of the land,” Frischkorn said.

Planned as a low-density, family community, Wild Rock West Virginia will eventually include 180 home sites, according to Frischkorn.

“The property is being designed primarily as a second-home community using sustainable design principles on individual lots that will range in size up to 15 acres,” he said.

The National Park Service has partnered with Wild Rock West Virginia to help design and offer public access to hiking and climbing trails that parallel the Wild Rock West Virginia rim of the New River Gorge, Frischkorn added.

E-mail: fpace@

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