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Cliffs Asking Members For Help

Wednesday, February 10, 2010 Comments
What does a golf development do when it needs money and the bank aren't lending? 

If you are The Cliffs Communities, you try something a little out of the ordinary: You ask your members for help.

According to this story in the Asheville (N.C.) Citizen-Times, Cliffs Communities is trying to raise $60 to $100 million, and it has sent letters to its members (an estimated 2,400 at six different developments in North and South Carolina, including High Carolina, where Tiger Woods is building a golf course) to see if they would like to contribute.

The story explains, "[Cliffs Communities] head Jim Anthony said the proposal is a product of the scarcity of funds available from traditional lenders and arose from periodic discussions Cliffs officials have with property owners. 'We have bankers and hedge fund guys,' and other property owners with significant resources and financial expertise, Anthony said. 'It was their initiative.' "

At least one member thinks it's a good idea.

"I think the proposal is worthy of consideration ... because it's well understood that the Cliffs needs additional capital to complete its projects at hand," Miller Williams, a property owner at Walnut Cove and chairman of its Finance Advisory Committee, told the Citizen-Times. "I trust my neighbor a lot more than a private equity group."

-- G.R.
Posted by Geoff Russell
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No New Course For Monterey Peninsula

Wednesday, January 6, 2010 Comments
There will be no new golf course built on the Monterey Peninsula. That's the result of a new plan adopted by the Pebble Beach Co. after a previous development proposal was rejected by the California Coastal Commission two years ago.

The San Jose Mercury-News has the story here.

In 2000, voters adopted a ballot measure that proposed significant development of land on the Monterey Peninsula, including another golf course to join Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill, et al. But seven years later, the coastal commission defeated the measure, which sent the Pebble Beach Co. back to the drawing board. 

According to the Mercury-News, "Opponents [of the 2000 plan] said the development would destroy up to 18,000 Monterey pines, and commission staff members said it was at odds with coastal policies to protect environmentally sensitive habitat. The new plan calls for a small hotel with up to 100 homes at the old Spyglass quarry; 80 new rooms at the Lodge at Pebble Beach and 60 new rooms at the Inn at Spanish Bay; and 90 single-family homes."

In a statement, Pebble Beach Co. chief executive Bill Perocchi said, "The commission staff and Pebble Beach Co. have been working to develop a project we could both support. ... We are very pleased that, together, we have been able to achieve that goal."

-- G.R.
Posted by Geoff Russell
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Arizona Update: 'Getting Hit From All Sides'

Wednesday, January 6, 2010 Comments
The Arizona Republic starts the new year with an update on the overall golf market in Phoenix and the surrounding suburbs. In summary: golf course owners and developers aren't noticing any rebound, at least not yet. Some, uh, highlights:

Many private clubs have opened their courses to the public, even for just one or two days a week, in an effort to increase rounds and revenue.

Many facilities are negotiating green fees. One golfer talks about having played the Arizona Biltmore for $55, and guesses it would have cost him twice that much a year ago.

Arizona officials estimate that "only" 5 percent of the state's approximately 340 golf facilities are in dire economic condition, compared to 15 percent nationally.

The story said there were no golf course residential developments opened in Arizona in 2009 -- startling news (economic troubles notwithstanding) considering how "white hot" the state's golf market was as recently as five years ago.

You can read the complete story here.

-- G.R.


Posted by Geoff Russell
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Woods Walks Carolina Design Site

Tuesday, October 6, 2009 Comments
Tiger Woods made a site visit to High Carolina, the golf course he is designing at The Cliffs property in Swannanoa, S.C., last weekend. The Charlotte Observer offers a report of that visit here.

Highlights of the story? First of all, given all the turmoil in the golf course construction business, it's nice to hear that any designer is making a site visit these days.

Second, according to the story, the course is at least two years away from opening. Permitting took longer than expected and, as a result, the land is still going through initial clearing stages. But tree stumps or no tree stumps, Woods apparently likes the land he's been given to work with. "I'm from L.A." he told the Observer. "We don't see [views] like this."

Finally, it's clear that whatever design fee The Cliffs is paying Woods -- and some reports say it could be as much as $10 million -- officials there feel they are getting their money's worth.

"We never anticipated he would be involved to this level," Jim Anthony, who has developed the six previous Cliffs golf communities, told the Observer.

-- G.R.
Posted by Geoff Russell
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Nancy Berkley on the FedEx Cup and Liberty National

Monday, August 31, 2009 Comments
As I was following the coverage of the Barclays, the first event in the PGA Tour's Playoffs schedule, I was particularly intrigued by the "Deeds & Weeds" related angle: the host site, the very private Liberty National GC, which cost $250 million to build, charges a $500,000 initiation fee and (according to some reports) needs at least another 100 members in order to become financially healthy.

I thought about trying to write something up summarizing this side of the story. But then I read this column by Nancy Berkley's on Cybergolf.com and decided she had already done it for me.

-- G.R.
Posted by Geoff Russell
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Great Park Losing Its Golf Course?

Thursday, August 13, 2009 Comments
Another golf course development project looks like it's on life support.

A proposed 45-hole course that was to be part of the Great Park, $1.4 billion, 1,300-acre community recreation center in Orange County, Calif., that is also to include "sports fields, community gardens and a man-made lake" -- and as many as 4,800 residential units -- may be canceled. At least that's what the project's developers, Lennar Corp., want according to a proposed new agreement with Orange County officials that would help jumpstart construction of Great Park, which has stalled during the economic downturn.

Details on the latest developments in this story from last Friday's Orange County Register. More specifics on the Great Park project can be found here.

Great Park is being built on the site of the old El Toro marine base, which closed about a decade ago. Lost in the redevelopment was the El Toro Marine Base Golf Course, which closed in December 2006. Fans of that course thought they would get a new course in the Great Park project, so they are (naturally) upset at the lastest developments.

"Without a golf course [Great Park] is going to have a facet of society that is missing," Ron Bloes, a past president of the El Toro Men's Golf Association, told the Register. "Golf in Orange County is part of the lifestyle down here. It's entrenched in the community."

-- G.R.
Posted by Geoff Russell
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New Resort Community Opens in Monterey

Thursday, August 6, 2009 Comments
It's been quiet on the new golf development front lately. Until today.

The former Fort Ord courses on the Monterey Peninsula, Bayonet and Black Horse, were recently re-opened after a $14 million renovation -- a good friend of ours played the Bayonet last week and said it was terrific -- and now comes word that a resort and residential neighborhood that is part of the project is set to open.

The Enclave at Cypress Grove is a 400-acre planned community that will eventually include homes, condominiums and a 330-room resort and spa. The first phase of the development is a parcel of 29 homesites, which have just been released for sale. Details are in this release here.

We wish them luck. Maybe they won't need it -- Monterey is Monterey, after all -- but it can't hurt.

-- G.R.

Posted by Geoff Russell
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Timberlake's $16 Million Course to Open in Memphis

Thursday, July 16, 2009 Comments
Believe it or not, there are golf courses going into business these days. One of them is Mirimichi, a public course set to open -- or re-open, actually -- next week near Memphis.

The course is the dream of pop star Justin Timberlake, who happens to be a Memphis native. Plans were to close Mirimichi in late 2007 and turn it into a housing development. But Timberlake -- a passionate golfer who has played in two Golf Digest U.S. Open Challenge events and is the celebrity host of the PGA Tour's annual tournament in Las Vegas -- stepped in and bought the facility. Then, according to this story in the Memphis Commercial-Appeal, he spent $16 million to renovate it.

The new Mirimichi sounds impressive: 7,400 yards from the tips, 80 bunkers, six lakes, two creeks, four waterfalls (Donald Trump will be jealous), an 18-hole putting course, a par-35 executive course (scheduled to open in October), a caddie program, and certification from the Audubon Classic Sanctuary Program. Reasonable green fees as well: $59 Monday through Thursday, $71 Friday through Sunday.

Mirimichi director of golf Greg King told the Commercial-Appeal, "The course is really going to be a world-class experience."

--G.R.
Posted by Geoff Russell
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Norman: 'Follow the growth corridor'

Thursday, April 23, 2009 Comments
Among professional golfers, Greg Norman has always been one of the most successful in business. So it was interesting to hear his thoughts today on golf course developments and real estate, and how and why they are good investments.

The scene was a press conference at the Savannah Harbor Resort in Savannah, Ga., site of this week's Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf, an event on the Champions Tour. The area is familiar to Norman. Hilton Head Island, S.C., home of Harbour Town GL and the PGA Tour's Verizon Heritage, where Norman is a past champion, is about 30 minutes north. The Shark has also designed the courses at a couple of real estate developments in the area: Savannah Quarters in Savannah, and Oldfield, in Beaufort, S.C.

A reporter asked Norman about his attraction to the region. Here was his answer:

"One of my favorite tournaments ever on the PGA Tour was Harbour Town. I love the golf course. I love the feel of the environment there. It was always great to come right out of Augusta and go there because it was like going from an intense pressure cooker to a little bit more laid-back atmosphere, but a very intense golf course to play. So you took that mentality all the way on to the golf course.

"And it was very relaxing. You walk to the first tee. You walk to the driving range. You walk back into your apartment, whatever way you want to do it.

"The opportunities to build golf courses around here have been tremendous. Savannah Quarters, I'm an owner in the development out there. Oldfield, we built a golf course out there. So I've had the opportunity to stick my stake in the ground in a lot of ways, not only from a playability standpoint, but also from a financial standpoint.

"I always love the Savannah growth corridor. Any time you see where a Lowe's or Wal-Mart or Home Depot and Sam's Club [is being built], that means they know where the growth corridor is. And when you get in the development business, you kind of follow where it's going to be five, seven years down the line. Sure, you're going to have hiccups in the real estate market, but if you stay the course, you know you're going to come out pretty good at the other end."

So there you go. The Shark says the market is going to turn. Eventually.

--G.R.
Posted by Geoff Russell
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Chicago Hope

Sunday, March 15, 2009 Comments

Picture_9 John Baxter, who tells the Chicago Tribune he doesn't carry a handicap, hasn't kept score for 10 years and claims four holes in one (two on mulligans), is pushing ahead with plans for a new private golf club with views of the Sears Tower.

"We have a location," Baxter is quoted as saying, "that's ridiculous."

Some might say that's not the only ridiculous thing about it. Baxter's Chicago Highlands Club wants $125,000 for a membership and dues will start at $9,600 a year. Yet even in this economy, with golf clubs everywhere seemingly on the ropes, Baxter says he's already sold 110 family memberships (out of 300 projected). "That's [money] in the bank," he told Deeds & Weeds by phone, adding, "We have no bank debt."

Isn't he just a little worried about selling the remaining memberships?  Not in the slightest, he says.  "Within 15 miles of my property there are 4.1 million people."

The course, 7,400 yards from the back tees and designed by Arthur Hills, is under construction; nine holes may open this summer. Among the amenities Baxter is promising besides golf: two practice holes, a pool complex, tennis courts, paddle tennis, a fitness center and spa,  ice skating,  bowling  and a 35,000-square-foot clubhouse.

Who is John Baxter? He describes himself as a Kellogg MBA (1984) who works for a commercial real estate firm called Hamilton Partners. His partners in the project are Joe Hills (one of Arthur's sons) and Tom Healy, who own and operate a pair of golf courses (Waverly Woods and Blue Mash) in the Washington D.C./Baltimore area.

-- P.F.

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