Article Courtesy of The Sun
Sentinel
By Austen Erblat
Published October 15, 2020
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BOCA RATON — The owners of the Boca Country Club unveiled plans Wednesday to
donate the 130-acre club to the city, an unusual move that will open the
exclusive property to the public.
The club, at 17751 Boca Club Blvd., features an 18-hole golf course, tennis
courts, a clubhouse and pool. It is expected to become a public facility as
early as October 2021 and will be available to all city residents and
visitors.
Elected officials hailed the donation as a boon that will provide residents
access to a championship golf course and other recreational activities. The
City Council still needs to approve the donation and is expected to vote
Oct. 14.
But not everyone looks forward to the deal. Herb Levy, a member of the
homeowners association for Balboa Point, one of the 12 subdivisions of the
Boca Country Club development, said he wasn’t happy.
“Our documents require that course to stay a private course, not open to the
public,” Levy said. “There’s no security for our homes when it’s open to the
public.”
The country club’s owners, MSD Partners and Northview Hotel Group, acquired
the club in June 2019 when they bought the Boca Raton Resort and Club, a
luxurious destination that’s situated off Camino Real and overlooks the
Intracoastal Waterway.
Coburn Packard, partner and co-head of real estate at MSD Partners, said the
owners decided to part with the club to focus on the Boca Resort and Club.
They see the donation as a clear way of “supporting the greater Boca Raton
community,” Packard said.
The owners didn’t elaborate on their reasoning. A country club spokesman
said the country club wanted more Boca residents be able to play at that
facility.
Boca City Councilman Andy Thomson couldn’t estimate the value of the country
club, and the country club spokesman said he wasn’t at liberty to disclose
it. He estimated that the club will cost a little over $1 million per year,
a cost that could be covered, at least in part, by fees to play the course.
Responding to the security concern, Thomson said the layout of the
development will prevent the public from accessing residential areas, only
the golf facilities and any other areas the city takes ownership of.
The neighborhood’s subdivisions include single-family homes, two-story
homes, townhomes, garden villas and luxury condominiums. Thomson said that
he’ll reach out to residents in those areas to address any concerns they may
have.
Membership to the country club is not required to live in the residential
areas.
The club will continue to operate as it has for the next year, until
paperwork is finalized, Thomson said. Once the city takes over, members will
have preferential tee times.
“They’re going to get taken care of, so they’re not going to lose anything,”
he said. “Everyone who uses it now is going to be in as good a position, if
not better, once the city take it over.”
Over the course of the next year, the city will develop plans for management
and operations for golf, tennis, aquatics, and the clubhouse, Boca Mayor
Scott Singer told residents in an email Wednesday evening.
He said the city’s current municipal golf course, at 8111 Golf Course Road,
is under contract for sale but still is operating. “It will likely stay open
until Boca Country Club opens to the public, providing continuous access to
public golf,” Singer wrote.
The Greater Boca Raton Beach & Parks District also has been developing plans
to overhaul the former Ocean Breeze golf course at Boca Teeca. That may no
longer happen.
“It is very possible that the District will choose not to move forward with
building another golf course,” Singer wrote in his email.
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