The 25th anniversary of Elvis Presley's ascension into heaven is next week, and few people are more excited than Atlanta developer J.D. Stacy.
Stacy has a dream. He and his investment group are in talks to buy the 155-acre Elvis Presley Ranch in Horn Lake, Miss. Elvis and Priscilla spent part of their honeymoon at the ranch, just 15 minutes from Graceland in Memphis. And it's where Elvis and his crew rode horses, barbecued and made music.
Stacy's group, which also holds options to buy another 647 acres around the ranch, envisions a $517 million Presley-inspired resort.
But Lisa Marie Presley and executives who run Elvis Presley Enterprises aren't ready to let Stacy's group take care of business. "We have no intention to issue any licenses," EPE President Jack Soden tells us. "Lisa wouldn't be involved in this."
Stacy argues that his group has the right to call the spread "Circle G Resort: Home of the Elvis Presley Ranch," because "Elvis had once lived on the land," according to a rep for Stacy. Soden calls that argument "questionable," but says EPE won't take legal action until Stacy's plans firm up.