(Pictured: Villa Del Ray GC)

The 106-acre Links at Queen Creek property in Queen Creek, Ariz., outside of Phoenix, has been purchased for $16.8 million, and $19.2 million was paid for an unspecified portion of the 119-acre former Villa Del Ray Golf Course in Delray Beach, Fla. The transactions reflect acceleration of the trend to redevelop golf properties, according to a South Florida real estate publication, because of how the single-family home shortage has grown larger, after the pandemic drove many to seek out more spacious and less crowded places to live.

The shuttered Links at Queen Creek in Queen Creek, Ariz., outside of Phoenix, has been purchased for $16.8 million by Diversified Partners of Scottsdale, Ariz., station ABC 15 of Phoenix reported, to be redeveloped into houses and apartments.

The real estate database Vizzda shows that Diversified Partners has sold a 48-acre portion of the property to Tri Pointe Homes for $12.5 million, ABC 15 reported. The companies plan to develop single-family homes, apartments and single-family build-to-rent homes on the property.

Diversified Partners bought the site from a partnership between Fortis Development and Cornerstone Realty and Development, according to Vizzda, ABC 15 reported. In 2018, that group had planned to redevelop the course into a mixed-use project that would have included a hotel site, apartment units, entertainment, dining, retail and fitness, and 50 acres of single-family residential lots.

In total, the new redevelopment of the former golf course is expected to cost $750 million, ABC 15 reported. The property totals 106 acres, and the site will keep some of the golf course amenities, including the lake.

The public Links at Queen Creek course was designed by John Woodhall and Sam Wese and opened for play in 1994.

In Florida, homebuilder Lennar has paid $19.2 million for part of the former, 119-acre Villa Del Ray Golf Course in Delray Beach, Fla. that is now approved for a residential development, according to The Real Deal, which covers South Florida real estate news.

13th Floor Homes, through an affiliate, sold the portion of the Villa Del Ray course, which was designed by Frank Batto in 1973, to Miami-based Lennar, The Real Deal reported, although it was unclear from the deed how many acres Lennar purchased.

13th Floor became the property owner in 2020 and then obtained Palm Beach County approval for an age-restricted community, called Delray Trails, with a total of 251 townhouses and 164 single-family homes, according to the developer’s website, The Real Deal reported.

Lennar will continue to follow the approved plan, but only on the part of the property it purchased, according to an e-mailed statement from 13th Floor, The Real Deal reported.

In its statement, 13th Floor said Lennar “is well-positioned to fulfill the vision established in the approved plans,” The Real Deal reported. The homes are expected to be for seniors 55 and older, according to media reports.

13th Floor also cited a “record shortage of single-family home inventory in the area” in its statement, adding that it will keep looking for opportunities like Delray Trails that would help to alleviate the dwindling residential supply, The Real Deal reported.

A single-family home shortage has been reported across markets in the U.S., partly because in 2020 many residents opted to weather the pandemic in a more spacious home, and South Florida received much of the demand, The Real Deal reported. Although the redevelopment of golf courses was a trend prior to 2020, the movement seems to have accelerated in light of the supply shortage.

In 2021, Jim Carr and Armando Codina’s CC Homes scored approval from the city of Sunrise to build a 900-home community at the closed Sunrise Golf & Country Club, The Real Dealreported. And GL Homes plans to build a community with more than 550 homes on the Boca Raton Municipal Golf Course, after paying $65.7 million for the site in November 2021.