With roughly 60 golf courses in Las Vegas, many are facing closure, redevelopment and periods of uncertainty during litigation. Badlands Golf Club has been in a legal battle for more than two years, as the developer has threatened to stop watering the course if development proposals are denied.
The list has been getting longer for the number of golf course owners in Las Vegas that have sold or entered bankruptcy in the past couple of years. Many of these courses have been attached to communities where residents feared things such as closure, redevelopment or long periods of uncertainty because of litigation, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
Well-known courses such as Badlands Golf Club, Legacy Golf Club and Silverstone Golf Club were just a few of the names that are set to see changes. There are roughly 60 golf courses in Las Vegas and some of the surrounding areas, the Review-Journal reported.
“I don’t think at this point it’s known for any of them, but they’re certainly in various stages of moving onto something different than a golf course,” said George Garcia, owner of Las Vegas-based G.C. Garcia Inc., a land planning and development services firm.
Badlands Golf Club in the master-planned community of Queensridge has been in a battle for more than two years. In June, developer Yohan Lowie of EHB Cos. forced a vote on four proposals at the Las Vegas City Council that would have permitted 61 homes on 34 acres of the closed 250-acre course. Lowie threatened to stop watering the course, with withdrawing a plan to raise 2,100 condominiums at the site and selling the land if the council delayed the vote. All were denied, the Review-Journal reported.
The only development approved has been for 435 condominium units at the eastern edge of the course. The development plan is heading back to the city August 2, the Review-Journal reported.
The Legacy Golf Course was one of the latest to be sold. The new owners, Georges Maalouf and Eddie Haddad, have closed the course as of July 4, the day the course sold under Par Excellence Drive Trust LLC, the Review-Journal reported.
“Over the next 60 to 90 days, the representing trustees of the properties will continue open communications with the city of Henderson officials and will begin timely discussions with the neighboring businesses and residents,” said Elizabeth Trosper, representative for the new owners. “It is their intent to create a planned-use development that will be enjoyed by neighboring homeowners and provides uses that enhance the viability of the location.”
In a statement, Trosper said the clubhouse and course were closed by the new owners “due to massive financial losses, increased operating costs and declining revenue over the past several years.”
On July 25, residents of the Grand Legacy Community Association filed a motion for a temporary restraining order to prevent new development on the property. The motion maintains that deed restrictions prohibit the new owners from redeveloping the property for 50 years, the Review-Journal reported.
While things seem bleak in many parts of the valley for communities surrounding golf courses, some neighborhoods are getting a premium. Lots at The Summit Club in Summerlin, Nev., are getting anywhere between $2 million and $10 million for custom lots on the 555-acre country club community, the Review-Journal reported.
One of the developers on the Summit Club in partnership with Arizona-based Wolff Co., a real estate private equity firm, made a deal at the end of 2016 to buy the Las Vegas Country Club, the Review-Journal reported.
Black Mountain Golf and Country Club is another course that has run into trouble and could see redevelopment. Owners of the course filed for bankruptcy March 30, but it is still operating. The course became troubled after the recession caused discretionary spending to slow, which affected the number of people playing at the course over the past several years, said Candace Carolyn, attorney at Clark Hill.
“Members even made loans to keep the property operating,” Carolyn said. “They’ve explored every avenue, but the bottom line is that the golf course operations are not profitable.”
The Silverstone Ranch Community Association is still in pending litigation over the closure of the Silverstone Golf Club at the end of 2015. Stoneridge Parkway LLC, which bought the property in December 2015, filed for bankruptcy not long after. In mid-April, however, its case was dismissed, the Review-Journal reported.
Desert Lifestyles, which bought the course and clubhouse just before Stoneridge in September 2015, closed the facility at that time. Desert was sued by Silverstone Ranch Community Association for its action, and litigation is still ongoing, the Review-Journal reported.
The Siena Golf Club in Summerlin has also had its troubles. Dr. David Lee, one of three owners of Siena, wrote homeowners by email stating he may want to sell the course, as it’s losing money. The homeowner’s association was considering voting on the proposal, the Review-Journal reported.
Investment has also happened in the golf sector. Apollo Global Management LLC, a private equity firm, agreed to pay $1.1 billion for ClubCorp Holdings, which has two holdings in Las Vegas: Canyon Gate County Club and Bear’s Best Las Vegas, the Review-Journal reported.
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