Block Real Estate Services LLC is preparing to build a par-3, nine-hole golf course around a new 20-residence community on 28.8 acres of mostly wooded land in Kansas City, Mo. The planned golf course may correspond with a new membership class granting participants access to it and the club’s facilities but not the regular course, says Managing Principal Ken Block.
A new golf course, surrounded by a small number of residences, is being planned just north of the newly transformed Oakwood Country Club in Kansas City, Mo., the Kansas City Business Journal reported. Block Real Estate Services LLC is preparing to build a par-3, nine-hole golf course around a new 20-residence community, Oakwood Villas, on 28.8 acres of mostly wooded land it acquired in 2021.
Managing Principal Ken Block said the par-3 course will allow Oakwood Country Club to attract new types of members, including junior golfers interested in learning the sport and seniors no longer able to play the club’s full 18 holes, the Business Journal reported. The planned golf course probably will correspond with a new membership class granting participants access to it and the club’s facilities but not the regular course, he said.
“I think we’ll have a lot of people from various other clubs that would love to have that opportunity to get their feet wet at Oakwood and start at that kind of level,” Block said.
Meanwhile, Oakwood Villas is planned with two distinct residential products, accessible via a private gated entrance, the Business Journal reported. Sixteen of the community’s units will be for-sale villas abutting the new golf course. Block said these could be well-suited for club members who reside outside Kansas City most months of the year, as well as retirees interested in living within walking distance of the club’s amenities.
The remaining four units will be larger cottages designed for short-term rental stays, perhaps by out-of-town course visitors or wedding guests, he told the Business Journal.
Block said construction on the par-3 course is set to begin in the near future, as are the first villas and cottages, depending on pricing and demand, the Business Journal reported. Demolition of a one-story office building formerly occupied by the Spofford Treatment Center took place earlier this month.
Block, who played his first round of golf at Oakwood Country Club when he was 9, said the projects are designed to further set apart the club’s offerings within and beyond the Kansas City metro, the Business Journal reported. Since he led an investment group in acquiring the 140-year-old club almost three years ago, millions of dollars have been invested in extensive course renovations, as well as amenities like a new sports bar, fitness center and golf performance center.
“What we’re trying to do here is put all of the various different pieces in place for a true middle-of-the-country resort-style club,” Block said. “We’ve really become more of a regional-national-type destination where we continue to upgrade the quality of the course and the facilities.”
The City Council approved Oakwood Villas’ plans in late July, the Business Journal reported. During neighborhood meetings, Block shared plans to cover costs from relocating a portion of the Blue River Parkway Trails running through the private property onto Jackson County land, as well as assist nearby homeowners with property improvements through his firm’s Renew KC Neighborhoods initiative.
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