Swanson Development is still “doing market studies” to determine how to use the Northbrook, Ill., property, but tentative plans are to convert the 125-acre club to a residential development, removing the 18-hole golf course and potentially keeping the 48,000-sq. ft. clubhouse, Olympic swimming pool, tennis courts and the 2,000-sq. ft. paddle-tennis building.
Swanson Development has a deal to buy the Green Acres Country Club, the biggest parcel of land in Northbrook, Ill., available for development in more than 30 years, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The developer intends to convert the 125-acre club entirely, or almost entirely, to residential development, CEO Rick Swanson said. The links of the 18-hole golf course will be gone, he said, though the 48,000-sq. ft. clubhouse, Olympic swimming pool, tennis courts and the 2,000-sq. ft. paddle-tennis building could remain, the Tribune reported.
Northbrook officials warned in late September, when news spread of the club being for sale, that development of the big parcel could bring big traffic issues and cause enrollment at nearby schools to swell, the Tribune reported.
Swanson said he is seeking, at least in part, “age-targeted housing products that might be more conducive to someone who doesn’t have children—master bedrooms on the first floor” with low-maintenance aspects, the Tribune reported.
Swanson reported a signed agreement to purchase the property from the members of the predominantly Jewish club, with the intention to close before the end of the year. The purchase, unusually, is being made with no option to back out if Northbrook officials don’t approve development plans and a change from “open space” zoning. Swanson said this was being done in order to bring fast cash to satisfy demands of bankers who have an eye on foreclosure, the Tribune reported.
Representatives of the club and its real estate broker, Colliers International, were not available for comment. The deal is being financed through private equity finds, Swanson said.
Eventual development of the property could bring a benefit to its northeast Northbrook neighborhood, as Swanson said he expects the property to be developed with 40% open space, and that likely includes a public park to be donated to the Northbrook Park District. Developer impact donations required under Northbrook code are almost always made in cash instead of park land, but Swanson said he told park district executive director Molly Hamer November 30 that he expects to offer property, the Tribune reported.
“We’re excited to be able to look at the opportunity,” Hamer said, adding that she didn’t yet know whether it made sense for the district to seek a deal for the clubhouse as fulfillment of the district’s long-sought search for a recreation center.
“Whether or not the clubhouse could be retrofitted or renovated at all is not something that the board has had a serious conversation on,” she said. “It’s our job to take a good hard look at what’s there and make the right decisions accordingly.”
Some of the property could also be used to extend the North Branch Trail, Swanson said, and he intends to try to keep some of the course’s big trees through “conservation clusters” on the property. The clubhouse, recently rehabbed, could be an amenity for the development, repurposed, or razed. Much depends, he said, on what the eventual development looks like, and that’s still very much up in the air, the Tribune reported.
“We’re in the process of doing market studies,” he said.
Town houses, single-family homes, assisted living and apartments-over commercial are all on the table, he said, though he indicated there might not be any commercial space. Swanson will work closely with village officials on planning. Like many 1920s golf courses, traces of toxic chemicals have been found on the property, though nothing his environmental consultant found to be alarming, the Tribune reported.
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