The 196-acre property will close on September 30th because of exorbitant maintenance costs and debt-service payments, while city officials work to complete a deal with a developer to rejuvenate the course through a project that would include the addition of condos, a hotel and a Topgolf entertainment complex.
The city commissioners of West Palm Beach, Fla., acting as the Golf Commission, reached consensus on September 4th to close the city’s municipal golf course September 30th, the Palm Beach Post reported. The closing will allow the city to save on maintenance costs while completing a deal with a developer to rejuvenate the course, add condos, a hotel and a Topgolf entertainment complex, the Post reported.
“The irrigation’s not in good shape. We’re losing about $60,000 a month, not including debt-service payments. It’s the end of the fiscal year and nothing’s budgeted to fund it for next year, so we think it’s a good time to close the course,” City Administrator Jeff Green said.
The Post reported that a final decision will be made by the city commission on September 24th.
At the urging of commissioners, Green said he would work on a contingency plan, so that if negotiations do not move forward within a specific timeframe, the city will take steps to reopen the course, reported the Post.
Developer American Links in February signed an agreement to orchestrate a $86 million rejuvenation of the 196-acre course—with the initial hope of reopening as soon as January 2019—along with the Topgolf franchise, a boutique hotel and a clubhouse next to Interstate 95 in the southwest corner of the course, the Post reported. Up to 200 apartments or condos would be built along the C-51 canal on the site’s southern property line.
The course anchors the city’s south end and has been a favorite spot for city residents for decades, the Post reported. But with the course deteriorating and the city putting little into maintenance in recent years, the course’s popularity has dropped to about 25 rounds played per day.
Details of the refurbishment are in negotiation, making it uncertain when the course will reopen, Green said.
In addition to negotiating with American Links, the city has a sticky issue to resolve with Palm Beach County, reported the Post.
According to Green, back in the 1940s, when lots were conveyed to the city to create the course, the county never transferred the titles to the lots. The city needs those titles to redo the course, the Post reported. But the Post reported that relations between the city and county are “miserable and snappish,” relating to the county’s desire to extend a state road near the city’s Grassy Waters Preserve, which the city has spent millions opposing in court, and the city’s desire to allow a 25-story office tower near the Royal Park Bridge, which the county and Town of Palm Beach oppose.
Green said he spoke to County Administrator Verdenia Baker about the course, and her response was that she’d need to await direction from the County Commission, the Post reported.
In addition, the Post reported, the city needs the state to sign over a piece of land to ease the redevelopment without shortening the course. That negotiation is also taking longer than expected, Green said.
While the city and developer are anxious to see the project move forward quickly, Topgolf arch-rival Drive Shack has already begun building a multi-floor, computerized driving range next to Palm Beach International Airport, the Post reported.
If the deal with American Links moves forward, it would pay the city rent totaling about $500,000 a year for the Topgolf, condo and hotel parcels, or alternatively buy those parcels from the city for an undetermined amount, the Post reported. The city will keep the course land, which will keep much of its current configuration, without water hazards but with more trees.
The developer would pay the entire cost of the project, while profiting from revenue from the course and the entertainment business, the Post reported. The project would bring the city $1.8 million in revenue for use for parks and recreation and create more than 600 jobs, the developer estimated.
The annual revenue would come from $500,000 for the land leases, $1.08 million in property taxes and $250,000 that the city would no longer pay to support the course, the Post reported.
Tell Us What You Think!
You must be logged in to post a comment.