RN Thompson, owner of the Fishers, Ind. club, is seeking approval to build 101 garden-style apartments, 28 townhouses and 20 duplexes on a 21-acre portion of the 40-acre driving range. The development would allow needed improvements to be made to the golf course and clubhouse.
Gray Eagle Golf Club & Academy in Fishers, Ind., which was on the cusp of closing a few years ago, has new life, thanks to a development agreement that will allow the owner to make improvements to the course, the Indianapolis Star reported.
Residents at Gray Eagle said owner RN Thompson is backing a plan to build a residential community for people 55 years and older next to the driving range, the Star reported. The proposal by developer J.C. Hart, of Carmel, Ind. would include 101 garden-style apartments, 28 townhouses and 20 duplexes.
At a Fishers City Council meeting January 19 when the plan was introduced, J.C. Hart’s Vice President of Development Todd May said it was the result of intense negotiations between the homeowner’s association, Thompson and the city, the Star reported.
“We need something that was acceptable to the community, the course owner, to make it financially viable, and the city,” he said. “It was a delicate balance with three significant partners.”
The development will allow Thompson to make improvements to the golf course and clubhouse, which in turn will help drive business, the Star reported. May said there was a need for the project in Fishers, generally.
“There is an unmet housing need to downsizing senior citizens,” he said, “and we focused on the ultimate maintenance-free life-style.”
In 2018, course owner Mark Thompson said he wanted to develop most of the property and close the 18-hole course and driving range, the Star reported. The course was in need of millions in repair and maintenance that declining golf revenues were not providing, he said.
Homeowners said demolishing the golf course would decrease their property values and they had encouraged Thompson to sell to someone who would keep Gray Eagle a golf course, the Star reported. Thompson said a buyer would be difficult to find.
The HOA then advocated for limited development in parcels at the corner of the course next to the clubhouse that would generate revenue for Thompson, the Star reported. But they rejected proposals for commercial properties that would draw traffic and congestion.
Residents had already fought off plans in 2017 for iTown Church to be built at that location because of possible congestion, the Star reported.
Attorney Steve Hardin, who represents J.C. Hart, said the 21-acre new proposal easily fits where the driving range is, the Star reported.
“We found that 40 acres of driving range was larger than was needed,” Hardin said.
David Berkenhoff, Gray Eagle Homeowner Association President, called the deal a “resident initiative solution from Gray Eagle.”
Helping to speed up negotiations was that May and Randy Sherman, a partner with architect Weaver Sherman Design, both live on the golf course, as does Hardin, the Star reported. HOA member Ron Diamond said it was a unique solution to a problem facing residential golf course across the country.
“Across the nation, many hundreds, if not thousands of golf courses have closed, leaving the residents in a lurch,” Diamond said. “We have a really rare circumstance here.”
The developer is requesting a city issued bond to help finance the project, but no details have been worked out, the Star reported. The plan must still go through several council committees for review and financing approvals before it is sent to the full City Council again.
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