Since the city took over operations in June 2022, it has invested upwards of $1 million in upgrades, including new flooring, air conditioning units and other capital items to protect the integrity of the building. The club is set to be fully functioning by the end of the month with the opening of the pool area.
The Coral Gables (Fla.) Golf and Country Club is set to be fully functioning by the end of the month with the opening of the pool area, Miami Today reported. But in terms of programming, the country club is offering various workout and fitness options, said Mitchell Zuriarrain, the club’s newly appointed Division Director.
“I’m also creating membership-centric events that are open to the public,” Zuriarrain said, “where members can bring new prospective members and so on.”
For example, on March 19, the club will host an afternoon tea special event, and on the last Thursday of the month, a member mixer series is to be introduced as an opportunity for members to get together and bring guests, Miami Today reported.
Since the city took over operations in June 2022, city staff had to start from zero when it came to membership numbers, Miami Today reported. By September 2022, the golf and country club had a little more than 450 members.
Club + Resort Business reported on the city’s plan to run the club in January 2022
Now, it has grown to nearly 800 members, said Zuriarrain, who began his career with Coral Gables in 2009 as a guest services representative and most recently served as Operations Supervisor for the community recreation department, Miami Today reported.
“I am going to continue to build programming and see what’s working and what’s not because we have a very diverse group of people enjoying our country club,” he said. “I want to build a world-class country club for the community so they can all gather and have a place they can call home, which is our mission statement.”
The city took over operations after an initial deal fell through with proposer BTW Investments in July 2021, Miami Today reported. The 15-year proposed lease had a deal to put roughly $5 million upfront through a partnership, agree to a base rent of $360,000 per year, escalating 3% for each leasing year thereafter, and propose percentage rent participation based on gross revenues. City staff determined that BTW Investments’ proposal was nonresponsive because it did not meet the minimum requirements at the time.
In March 2021, the city decided to cut ties with Coral Gables Country Club’s previous operator Coral Grand after only 10 years, Miami Today reported. Coral Grand operators were notified that the city would not renew its ten-year lease agreement to operate the club due to failure to pay rent for April 2020 and to pay percentage rent from October 2017 to Sept. 30, 2018, and Oct. 1, 2018, through Sept. 30, 2019, which violated the initial lease, according to a nonrenewal letter the city sent to the club’s operators.
The city has invested upwards of $1 million in upgrades, including new flooring, air conditioning units and other capital items to protect the integrity of the building, Miami Today reported.
“The only part that I’m missing right now is the pool,” Zuriarrain added, “which I would say is the heart of the country club because it’s the one location where multiple generations can gather together and create lifelong memories.”
The 100-year-old country club was the first public building in Coral Gables and was envisioned as a place for the community to gather and attract potential investors to the area, Miami Today reported.
“It has taken multiple people a lot of time, blood, sweat and tears on the city side to get the country club up to standards,” Zuriarrain said. “We really have to do things the right way, which isn’t always the easy way, but I can assure you that this building, everything that’s being done in it from a public works standpoint, is being done the right way.”
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