Bridge Investment Group bought the 27-hole golf course, which closed six months ago, from Shaco Inc. for $5.25 million on February 3. The company is proposing to expand its adjacent apartment complex onto the golf course’s driving range, adding 450 units, and reducing the golf course to 18 holes, converting the remaining land into a passive park.
Six months after closing its doors, the Moreno Valley (Calif.) Ranch Golf Club has a new owner who hopes to fix it up and reopen it this year, the Riverside, Calif.-based Press-Enterprise reported.
Bridge Investment Group bought the 27-hole golf course February 3 from Shaco Inc., which bought the 112-acre course only six months after it was put up for auction in a foreclosure sale. Shaco bought the property in August for $3.96 million and then sold it to Bridge for $5.25 million, the Press-Enterprise reported.
The New York-based investment group owns almost 30,000 apartment units in 35 states and controls $4.7 billion in assets, according to its website. Last fall, Bridge bought a 176-unit apartment complex next to the golf course, the Press-Enterprise reported.
The company is proposing to expand its apartment complex onto the golf course, adding 450 units, said Eric Heffner, director of real estate development for Bridge, adding that the golf course is seen as one of the major amenities of its apartment complex, the Press-Enterprise reported.
“Like all the other landowners, having a healthy, viable golf course there will actually increase our land values and property values,” Heffner said.
But he said the 27-hole configuration is not realistic in the current golf market. The company is proposing to decrease to 18 holes, keeping its lake and mountain courses open. The valley course will be turned into a passive park area with walking trails and tot lots. The new apartments would be built on the driving range, Heffner said.
Bridge plans to submit a rezoning application with the city to allow multifamily housing and, if all goes well, could have the golf course open by summer, the Press-Enterprise reported.
Although Bridge owns three other golf courses, its primary business is in commercial and residential holdings. For that reason, it plans to sell the golf course to another operator after making improvements, the Press-Enterprise reported.
“We believe it’s in all of our collective interest to have that golf course reopen and operating at championship caliber,” Heffner said.
The company is planning to conduct a community meeting in late March to explain its plans to neighbors. City Councilman George Price, who represents the district where the golf course is located, said city officials are happy to see that it will be reopening, the Press-Enterprise reported.
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