It is set to open late summer of next year, I think that most of the protesters' lawsuit options have been exhausted concerning this development. I do know that they arrested three protesters back in September or October who laid down in front of bulldozers, and I think that was after a judge gave the Ok to proceed with the project. Last info I could find online is that the project was proceeding (less the three holes in question in the lawsuit, temporarily) , while a federal judge was supposed to make a final decision in October.
The whole dispute is over the environmental impact on a local/federal parkland that was donated to the development for use as a few holes of the course. Basically most of the land will stay as a park, and be bisected by the land used for the holes, with beach access between the two park areas.
The course and its hotel / restaurants (and homes) would probably help the extremely depressed Benton Harbor job market at least to some extent (although the pay for some of these hotel and restaurant jobs is not too good, it is better than the high unemployment in the area), and any development would probably spur other development in the area, something Benton Harbor sorely needs (BH is often the poorest or in the bottom few of poorest cities per capita in Michigan).
It is supposed to be a really nice course, with a view of lake Michigan on a few holes, although I have not seen the routing or course details up close.