Seminole Considers Buying Florida Golf Courses
Seminole County is considering buying three financially ailing golf courses, converting one into a park and school and enlisting the University of Central Florida and one or two cities to keep the others open.
Sabal Point Country Club in the Longwood area, Winter Springs Golf Club and Twin Rivers Golf Club in Oviedo have been for sale since June. That's when the lender took possession of them from Meadowbrook Golf Inc., an Orlando-based management company.
On Monday, Banc of America Strategic Solutions Inc. closed Sabal Point. It's unclear what the company plans to do short-term with the others. Bank officials would not comment. Twin Rivers is close to breaking even while the other two courses are losing money, Seminole County Commission Chairman Carlton Henley said.
Golf clubs in Central Florida and across the country are struggling amid a glut of courses.
"In many areas, the market is so soft and beat up right now," said Gene Krekorian, senior vice president at Economic Resource Associates, a Los Angeles golf-course consultant.
There are about 100 golf courses within a 30-mile radius of downtown Orlando. Some, such Alhambra in Orlando and Alaqua, also in the Longwood area, have closed and been sold.
Seminole County officials say they are still considering their options, but vowed none of the courses would be turned over to developers.
"I do not want to see any of those golf courses developed into communities," Henley said.
One or more could remain as golf courses, he said, but not with the county controlling them. "We don't want to get into the golf-course business," he said.
That's where UCF, Winter Springs and possibly Oviedo come in. All have expressed early interest in taking over a course.
UCF, which has a golf course in its long-range plans, could acquire Twin Rivers, which is northeast of campus, Henley said. Oviedo also is interested in that course. Winter Springs is considering turning the club there into a municipal course.
UCF President John Hitt said it's too early to know what will happen.
"We have had only the most informal and preliminary conversations about the matter," Hitt said.
UCF's golf team now practices at various courses.
Winter Springs commissioners plan Feb. 13 to discuss hiring a consultant to look at the feasibility of buying and operating Winter Springs Golf Club.
Oviedo made some initial inquiries about buying Twin Rivers last year, but city officials were put off when the bank told them the three courses were being sold as a group, Council Chairman Dominic Persampiere said. The bank is asking $8.4 million for all three.
Still, the possibility of a city-run course, or one that would be shared with UCF, is intriguing, Persampiere said.
"UCF is such a great partner in our community, it might be a welcome addition to being a partner in some kind of joint usage of the golf course," he said.
The Seminole County School Board is "very open" to partnering with the county on one or more of the golf-course sites, Seminole schools Superintendent Bill Vogel said.
Part of Sabal Point, for example, might be suitable for a middle school, Vogel said.
County officials have talked with residents living around Sabal Point about forming a tax district to purchase that course. A recent survey found residents overwhelmingly want the property to remain as a golf course, but most are not willing to pay to see that happen.
"I don't want to be part of a 200-person ownership committee," said Bill Butz, who has lived near Sabal Point Country Club for more than 20 years and is a board member of the largest of three homeowners associations there.
Brooke Shegda, who lives in the nearby Clubside Apartments but has never used the golf course, said she would love to see a park there.
"It would be cool, because there's no park -- especially for people with children," she said.
The ultimate goal for the county and the cities may be to prevent development from eating up what little greenspace remains in Seminole.
Struggling courses are seen as easy targets for developers, said Krekorian, the consultant.
The number of troubled courses currently available make it a good time for public entities to buy, he said. "But I haven't seen many public agencies actually do it."
Banc of America approached Seminole County about buying the three courses.
"I told them that we would not pay their asking price," Henley said, but "they realize there will be significant problems if they sell them to a developer."
Sabal Point is a planned-unit development and any use changes would require county approval. Part of the golf course is within the overall development's designated open space, Henley said.
At Winter Springs Golf Club, he said, there is a conservation easement that allows that city to control development there.
Banc of America had asked the county for a letter of intent to buy the three courses. Instead, the county sent a non-binding letter of interest, saying it needed up to 120 days to study the feasibility of buying the courses.
Sabal Point Country Club in the Longwood area, Winter Springs Golf Club and Twin Rivers Golf Club in Oviedo have been for sale since June. That's when the lender took possession of them from Meadowbrook Golf Inc., an Orlando-based management company.
On Monday, Banc of America Strategic Solutions Inc. closed Sabal Point. It's unclear what the company plans to do short-term with the others. Bank officials would not comment. Twin Rivers is close to breaking even while the other two courses are losing money, Seminole County Commission Chairman Carlton Henley said.
Golf clubs in Central Florida and across the country are struggling amid a glut of courses.
"In many areas, the market is so soft and beat up right now," said Gene Krekorian, senior vice president at Economic Resource Associates, a Los Angeles golf-course consultant.
There are about 100 golf courses within a 30-mile radius of downtown Orlando. Some, such Alhambra in Orlando and Alaqua, also in the Longwood area, have closed and been sold.
Seminole County officials say they are still considering their options, but vowed none of the courses would be turned over to developers.
"I do not want to see any of those golf courses developed into communities," Henley said.
One or more could remain as golf courses, he said, but not with the county controlling them. "We don't want to get into the golf-course business," he said.
That's where UCF, Winter Springs and possibly Oviedo come in. All have expressed early interest in taking over a course.
UCF, which has a golf course in its long-range plans, could acquire Twin Rivers, which is northeast of campus, Henley said. Oviedo also is interested in that course. Winter Springs is considering turning the club there into a municipal course.
UCF President John Hitt said it's too early to know what will happen.
"We have had only the most informal and preliminary conversations about the matter," Hitt said.
UCF's golf team now practices at various courses.
Winter Springs commissioners plan Feb. 13 to discuss hiring a consultant to look at the feasibility of buying and operating Winter Springs Golf Club.
Oviedo made some initial inquiries about buying Twin Rivers last year, but city officials were put off when the bank told them the three courses were being sold as a group, Council Chairman Dominic Persampiere said. The bank is asking $8.4 million for all three.
Still, the possibility of a city-run course, or one that would be shared with UCF, is intriguing, Persampiere said.
"UCF is such a great partner in our community, it might be a welcome addition to being a partner in some kind of joint usage of the golf course," he said.
The Seminole County School Board is "very open" to partnering with the county on one or more of the golf-course sites, Seminole schools Superintendent Bill Vogel said.
Part of Sabal Point, for example, might be suitable for a middle school, Vogel said.
County officials have talked with residents living around Sabal Point about forming a tax district to purchase that course. A recent survey found residents overwhelmingly want the property to remain as a golf course, but most are not willing to pay to see that happen.
"I don't want to be part of a 200-person ownership committee," said Bill Butz, who has lived near Sabal Point Country Club for more than 20 years and is a board member of the largest of three homeowners associations there.
Brooke Shegda, who lives in the nearby Clubside Apartments but has never used the golf course, said she would love to see a park there.
"It would be cool, because there's no park -- especially for people with children," she said.
The ultimate goal for the county and the cities may be to prevent development from eating up what little greenspace remains in Seminole.
Struggling courses are seen as easy targets for developers, said Krekorian, the consultant.
The number of troubled courses currently available make it a good time for public entities to buy, he said. "But I haven't seen many public agencies actually do it."
Banc of America approached Seminole County about buying the three courses.
"I told them that we would not pay their asking price," Henley said, but "they realize there will be significant problems if they sell them to a developer."
Sabal Point is a planned-unit development and any use changes would require county approval. Part of the golf course is within the overall development's designated open space, Henley said.
At Winter Springs Golf Club, he said, there is a conservation easement that allows that city to control development there.
Banc of America had asked the county for a letter of intent to buy the three courses. Instead, the county sent a non-binding letter of interest, saying it needed up to 120 days to study the feasibility of buying the courses.
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