After the financial crisis dealt a body blow to ambitious plans to revive the former Newport Dunes golf course in Port Aransas, Texas on Mustang Island, Hurricane Harvey threatened to give the project a knockout blow, reported GlobeSt.com, a commercial real estate website. But owner/developer McCombs Properties is now back up and swinging again to reposition the property, now called the Palmilla Beach Resort and Golf Community on Mustang Island.

“Hurricane Harvey took a heavy toll on the golf course, effectively destroying the greens and irrigation systems,” McCombs Properties’ Harry Adams told GlobeSt.com. “As with other community assets damaged by the storm, we chose not to settle for merely rebuilding what existed before the storm, but to improve the community and our guest experience by building something better, more appropriate for the tourism-based market, and more exciting.”

The heart of Palmilla Beach North Village is the links-style golf course winding among the windswept Mustang Island dunes, GlobeSt.com reported. McCombs is currently in the process of reinventing the property with extensive improvements to the resort’s golf amenity along with expanded hiking and biking amenities. The changes are designed to extend the course’s appeal to golfers of all ages and skill levels, as well as to non-golfers and families.

McCombs is transforming Texas’ only 18-hole links golf course with a coastline backdrop to create a much grander experience where golf, entertainment, dining and socializing intersect, GlobeSt.com reported. Construction of both the new nine-hole course at Palmilla Beach Golf Club and The Playground at Palmilla Beach began in early July 2018, with expected openings in early spring 2019 and fall 2019, respectively.

After Hurricane Harvey, McCombs collaborated with land planners, architects and the national leadership of Troon Golf to determine how best to restore and improve guests’ golfing experience, GlobeSt.com reported. Troon was brought in on the project in 2013.

Among the many factors considered as the post-Harvey strategy for the property was formulated, GlobeSt.com reported, were the multi-year decline in rounds of play nationwide, how to appeal to a new generation of golfers, and emerging trends in golf entertainment.

“The property was originally 700 acres, and now it is 550 acres, so we’ve maximized our footprint,” Tiffany Holmgren Zuniga, sales executive of Palmilla Beach Resort and Golf Community, told GlobeSt.com. “We are aiming to make this Troon-managed course a differentiator for the approximately 100,000 annual summer visitors [to Mustang Island].”

When completed, Palmilla Beach’s final course design will become a more diverse destination for avid, new, novice and non-golfers, while adding value for homeowners and guests, GlobeSt.com reported. The luxury vacation-home community will feature 30 holes and retain the original driving range and nine-hole course for golf “purists.”

The Playground at Palmilla Beach will feature an events lawn, a food-and-beverage component and an 18-hole putting course, GlobeSt.com reported. The property will also offer a short course, featuring three short holes designed for relaxed, easy golf, perhaps as a warm-up for the nine holes of links-style play, that will only be played with a wedge or a putter.

The events lawn will be designed as a flexible zone for entertainment programming, serving as a venue for concerts, games or competitions, with access to music, food and beverage. “The kitchen and bistro will include a pizza oven, and all of the golf course and dining amenities will be open to the public,” Holmgren Zuniga told GlobeSt.com.

Palmilla Beach Resort and Golf Community also offers sport fishing and nature activities on its private-access beach or by its resort-style pool, GlobeSt.com reported. The pedestrian-friendly community features Gulf Coast beach views and numerous waterfront amenities.

Port Aransas’ 18 miles of uninterrupted beachfront has long been recognized as a top deep sea-fishing destination for its proximity to deep water on the edge of the continental shelf, while offering outstanding bay fishing in the waterways surrounding Mustang Island, GlobeSt.com reported.

Homesites at Palmilla Beach start in the $200,000 range and go up to $1.4 million, GlobeSt. com reported. Single-family homes range from $700,000 to $4 million for larger home options. Residential offerings range from condos to townhomes, cottages and custom homes.