Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
From fairways to driveways
Struggling golf courses are prime sites to combat crunch for housing felt around US
SAN TAN VALLEY, Ariz. — Buffeted by rising costs and declining interest from golfers, the Links at Queen Creek course closed two years ago after 26 years of operation. But with the demand for housing in Arizona soaring, Walt Brown saw a different fate for the 106-acre parcel of grass and palm trees southeast of Phoenix.
Brown, CEO of Diversified Partners, a developer in Scottsdale, bought the property this year for $16.8 million. His new project, the Ironwood Springs Ranch, will include 172 homes on nearly 49 acres.
Across the country, developers see potential for construction on struggling golf courses. Large expanses of grass and trees sewn into the fabric of prosperous communities look like open space ripe for development. When it comes to golf courses, though, developers have learned to be cautious.
The two biggest challenges are strict zoning regulations and community resistance, experts say.
Brown received county approval for his project, which will include stores, restaurants and a hotel on more than 30 acres, as well as walking trails that wind around two small lakes and through a public park.
“We were able to work through the zoning,” he said. “After we showed residents the totality of our project, the trails and the park, neighbors were really cooperative.”
For residential developers, the opportunities are numerous: From 1986 to 2006, 4,400 courses were built around the country, according to the National Golf Foundation, an industry research group. But since then, more than 1,000 have closed. Many others have gone on the market as revenues decline and operational expenses climb, including the high cost of water for irrigation.
That is especially true in Arizona, where every day in the summer, golf courses consume 3 to 5 acre-feet of water, or nearly 326,000 gallons, which can cost $1,000, depending on the water source. The state’s 302 courses use nearly 4 billion gallons of water per year, according to the Arizona Department of Water Resources.
Ridgewood Real Estate Partners, a New Jersey firm that specializes in golf course redevelopment, has collaborated with Concert Golf Partners of Florida to redevelop exclusive private golf clubs in Pennsylvania and Florida. Concert Golf buys the clubs, then renovates and takes over operations of clubhouses and recreational assets. Ridgewood buys land on the closed courses for home construction.
In overhauling the country clubs, Ridgewood and Concert Golf were able to solve a major impediment to redeveloping old and troubled courses: redesigning and installing water supply and drainage infrastructure.
“Water systems used for a golf course are much different than what is needed for new homes and businesses,” said Brent Billingsley, community development director for Pinal County, Arizona.
A bigger challenge was public opposition. Fierce fights have erupted in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, New York and Nevada, typically involving homeowners battling to keep courses operating to preserve their home values, neighbors objecting to more traffic or communities blocking zoning changes to prevent new homes or to preserve the course as public open space.