The Garden City, Idaho property’s 111-year-old golf course is the second oldest in the state. Current owner American Golf Corporation is rumored to be readying its sale to developer Will Gustafson of Synergy Golf Partners, whose track record with other acquisitions worries residents to the point they are considering making a counter offer to buy the club themselves.
The future of a large green space and historic golf course in Garden City, Idaho is up in the air while a Southern California developer has his eye on it, the Idaho Press of Nampa, Idaho reported.
Both residents of the Plantation Country Club community and elected officials seem to have more questions than answers at this point about the potential sale of the property, the Press reported. Built in 1907, Plantation has the second-oldest golf course in Idaho.
The club is currently owned by American Golf Corporation but there have been reports that it is being sold to developer Will Gustafson of Santa Barbara, Calif., as part of American Golf’s shift away from traditional golf towards golf-oriented leisure and entertainment ventures.
American Golf did not respond to a request from the Press for comment on the pending sale of Plantation CC, but Craig Quintana, a spokesman for a Save Plantation Coalition group that has been formed, told the Press that Gustafson has met privately with has group and said he’s planning a commercial development on the property. Gustafson has gone back and forth, Quintana claims, about how many residential units, if any, would be built on the course if the sale goes through.
Residents are even considering making a counter offer and buying the course themselves, the Press reported. Quintana told the Press that residents had contacted American Golf and asked if the company would consider a counter offer, and an American Golf representative told the group it would. However, American Golf will not allow potential buyers to review financial records for Plantation before making the offer, Quintana added.
As angst over the possible development grows, Garden City Mayor John Evans understands residents’ concern, but cautions people not to fall prey to the “rumor mill,” which he said is “running rampant” surrounding the sale of Plantation Golf Course.
Few hard details are currently available about what’s next for the club. “We’ve heard a couple of different things from Gustafson and his would-be partners,” Quintana told the Press.
Initially, the Press reported, Quintana was told that a Boise, Idaho-based developer, George Iliff, would partner with Gustafson to develop the course. More recently, Quintana heard that Gustafson has partnered with Larry Leasure, another developer in Idaho’s Treasure Valley region, the Press reported.
Leasure and Gustafson did not respond to the Press’ requests for comment, but Iliff told the paper that Gustafson is waiting to make plans until he owns the course, the Press reported.
“He [has] been advised by me and other members of his team to wait until he owns the property,” Iliff said.
If the sale moves forward, Iliff said, Gustafson plans to host community meetings and events to decide how to proceed with development, taking the opinions of local residents into account, the Press reported.
“I think it’s clear that the Plantation Golf Course in its present form is not a viable long-term use of the land,” Iliff added.
Through his company, Synergy Golf Partners, Gustafson has a history of buying golf courses and building residential or commercial developments on or near them, the Press reported. And Synergy’s track record with other properties is a source of worry for Plantation residents. A dispute stemming from a recent venture in Sparks, Nev., is still ongoing, as the city of Sparks is suing Gustafson for negligence after the D’Andrea Golf Course fell into disrepair, the Press reported.
However, while news reports from the Reno area say residents blame Gustafson for the course’s demise, Sparks Mayor Ron Smith said it isn’t that simple, the Press reported.
“People blame him because he owned the golf course when they bought a house on the course,” Smith said.
In 2009, 18 holes of golf at D’Andrea cost $95, the Press reported. Over time, though, the number of golfers decreased, and so did the profits. Eventually a round of golf cost $55, and the course wasn’t sustainable, Smith said. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize money is not coming in any longer,” he said.
Gustafson offered Sparks residents a chance to pay an additional $28 a month to keep up with operations, the local ABC station reported. But Smith said that effort fell flat, the Press reported.
While Smith doesn’t blame Gustafson for the closing of the D’Andrea course, the developer’s negligence after the closure is what landed him in hot water, the Press reported.
The once-groomed fairways are now overgrown, even though Gustafson said he would continue to maintain the course, Smith said. The local homeowners association voted to have Gustafson come clean the course, but after agreeing to do so he never showed up, Smith claimed.
Smith described Gustafson as friendly and likable, but he wouldn’t do business with him again, the Press reported.
One of the key problems for opponents to the development of the Plantation property is the zoning designation. The land is zoned for two residential units per acre, the Press reported.
“We’re in a strong property-rights state,” Garden City Mayor Evans said. “Right now the golf course is privately owned, is zoned [residential], and that zone provides an entitlement.”
Any development beyond that scope would need City Council approval, the Press reported. The Save Plantation Coalition has proposed an ordinance to change the designation to open space, but City Council has not received an application, Evans said.
The golf course does add an element of historic value to Garden City, Evans added, but that’s unlikely to make an impact on what actually happens to it, the Press reported.
“Garden City doesn’t have a historic preservation commission,” he said. “We don’t have a mechanism to retroactively do something, to change that status.”
The women’s golf team of Boise State University and a number of local high school teams use the Plantation course for practice, the Press reported.
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