Construction continues on the new Ritz-Carlton in Dove Mountain. The 250-room resort hotel is slated to open in the fall of 2009. It will also feature 25 detached casitas.

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Though the struggling U.S. economy has affected quite a few big-name developments locally, the slowdown doesn't seem to be hurting one of the Northwest Side's most ambitious projects.

In fact, those affiliated with construction of the Ritz-Carlton resort in Dove Mountain say, other projects' losses are their gains.

"As other projects don't go forward, it creates more resources for us as we do go forward," project manager Richard Frazee said, just before slapping on a hard hat to wander through a bustling construction area. "We have over 500 workers in here on a daily basis."

The $500 million, 850-acre project, which was officially announced as being a Ritz-Carlton last October, is more than half done, officials say.

The four-story, 250-room Ritz-Carlton hotel is about 50 percent complete, Frazee said, while the clubhouse attached to the 36-hole golf club is 70 percent done.

The first 27 golf holes are complete, said Casey Bolinger of co-developer Greenbrier Southwest Corp., although revegetation continues along the edges of holes to help blend the grass into the natural desert landscape that surrounds them.

Eighteen of those holes, all of which were designed by legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus, will be the site of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship in February.

The clubhouse is expected to open in mid-January, said Tim Bolinger of Scottsdale-based Greenbrier Southwest, which is developing the 850-acre project along with Tucson-based Cottonwood Properties.

"If we weren't doing the hotel, the clubhouse itself would be considered a major project," Tim Bolinger said.

The hotel itself is expected to open in October 2009, though reservations for group outings are already being taken.

"The hotel is coming into the Ritz-Carlton system as we speak," Tim Bolinger said.

The project also calls for a 324-house residential development, called The Residences at the Ritz-Carlton.

Casey Bolinger said two of three model homes are finished, and a third — near the golf clubhouse — will be ready when the Ritz-Carlton begins actively marketing the houses this fall.