Developers want to use 735 acres of parkland in the Texas state capital to build two PGA-class golf courses as part of a $25 million project. If an Economic Opportunity Council Committee gives the green light with its vote, the only remaining hurdle would be City Council.
Plans for two new PGA-class golf courses in the Decker Lake section of Austin, Texas could move one step closer to being placed for a full vote by the City Council of Texas’s state capital, Austin station KXAN reported, with the developers’ proposal for 735 acres of parkland due to come in front of the city’s Economic Opportunity Council Committee for a key vote on May 11.
If the Economic Council gives a green light to the project, KXAN reported,
the next step would a vote by Austin’s City Council, which has the final say. The Austin City Council currently does not have it on its future agenda to take up the proposal, KXAN noted, but that could change following the vote by the Economic Opportunity Council Committee.
As reported by C&RB (http://clubandresortbusiness.com/?s=Decker+Lake) the proposed golf course has been in the works for more than a year, but ideas on what to do with the land have been tossed around since the 1960s, KXAN reported. In addition to the golf courses, the plan now being considered would also create a clubhouse, meeting space and walking trails, through an investment of about $25 million that the developer would pay for, with the city reaping the benefits of the tax revenue generated.
But along the way, KXAN noted, a few issues have been raised. One concerns the agreement to use the land for 50 years, with four 10-year extensions. Because it would be a license agreement, it wouldn’t have to go before a public vote like a lease agreement.
The second issue, KXAN reported, revolves around the water source that would be used for course irrigation. Many worried about using city water during potential drought conditions, so the developers came up with a solution to tap a deep-water aquifer, known as the Hosston formation.
“It’s a hot water; it’s 3,000 feet down. No one really even knew it existed until I started talking about it,” Warren Hayes, Vice President of Decker Lake Golf LLC, explained to KXAN. “You can bring the water up, you can heat potable water with it, you can water grass with it. It’s a really good sustainable source of energy.”
The city’s Watershed Protection Department issued this statement concerning the use of this resource, KXAN reported:
“The Watershed Protection Department has reviewed the proposal to use groundwater from the Hosston Sandstone formation of the Lower Trinity aquifer for irrigation of the proposed Decker Golf Course. Based on available data, we do not believe that the Hosston water will negatively impact surface water resources or other local groundwater users.
“Additionally, the developer has proposed to provide us with an integrated pest management plan for our approval, as well as to provide a 150-foot no-development buffer along the shoreline of Lake Long, which will also help to protect adjacent surface water resources,” the department’s statement continued.
Kathie Tovo, Austin’s Mayor Pro Tem, said her main concern is the development would only produce 34 jobs, KXAN reported, which she feels is not enough, considering that 735 acres of public parkland would be used.
“If we’re supporting a proposal that would allow them to lease a substantial piece of public land, I would like to see a greater return on the investment,” said Tovo.
Hayes of Decker Lake Golf responded by saying, “I don’t think the jobs on the actual parkland are as important as the jobs outside of the parkland,” KXAN reported.
“Zilker Park has 11 permanent jobs, but I don’t think it’s those 11 jobs that make it special,” Hayes added, citing another property in Austin. It’s what happens around it.”
Hayes said he imagines the development ultimately producing close to 500 jobs, KXAN reported, because he owns 57 acres next to the proposed golf course, where he imagines a 500-room resort and conference space could be created.
In a separate report, the Austin American-Statesman said a memo issued by the city placed the value of the parkland that Decker Lake Golf wants to develop at between $10.5 million and $16.2 million, based on an outside appraisal commissioned by the city.
The Aegis Group, which the city also hired to appraise the Grey Rock Golf Club property it purchased last year, looked at sales prices and listings for 19 comparable properties in east Travis County, the American-Statesman reported.
The nine “most similar” sales were purchased for between $14,284 and $22,000 per acre, the memo said. The Aegis Group then applied both of those prices to the 735 acres of Walter E. Long Metropolitan Park that Decker Lake Golf LLC would occupy under a proposed license agreement.
Under that license agreement, which is for 50 years with four 10-year renewal options, the city would retain ownership of the land while the developer paid to build and run the course, giving the city a cut of the profits, the American-Statesman clarified. City officials estimate the return to Austin in revenue and taxes would be $14.6 million over the first 10 years.
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