At today's meeting of the Greater Boca Raton Beach & Park District the commissioners voted unanimously to execute the contract to buy the over 200 acres known as the Ocean Breeze golf course. The district commissioners also voted unanimously to start the search for a golf course design firm via an RFP process.
Golfers and residents are looking forward to this process moving along with the financing coming via an agreement with the city council which is still prnding approval. The contact closing is scheduled for late October with possible extensions nil the end of January 2018. This process could be expedited if the city would approve the financing utilizing plentiful city reserves which are currently earning a measly 2% or less in savings accounts/certificates.
Thanks to Keep Golf In Boca representatives for their continued support of this important project which benefits the entire city.
Monday, May 22, 2017
Friday, May 12, 2017
Ocean Breeze update
The May 8th joint workshop meeting by the city council & the beach & park district was very well attended by over 200 residents who clearly supported the acquisition of the closed ocean breeze golf course. The final outcome was a verbal commitment by the city council to provide the required cooperative financing for the beach & park district to buy the over 200 acres formerly operated as the ocean breeze golf course.
The next step is for the city & park district to agree to the official terms or their lending agreement and approve an ordnance by the city council at upcoming meetings. The estimated closing on the purchase is October 31st with final development completed in approximately 2 years.
The next step is for the city & park district to agree to the official terms or their lending agreement and approve an ordnance by the city council at upcoming meetings. The estimated closing on the purchase is October 31st with final development completed in approximately 2 years.
Friday, April 28, 2017
Thank You To Boca Teeca Residents
All golfers and property owners in Boca Raton should be saying thank you to Boca Teeca Residents. Why? Because if the owners in Boca Teeca were to follow the suggestions of some misguided officials to eliminate the deed restriction on their adjacent golf course, then this property would be expected to be valued in excess of the $73 million the city is expected to sell a similar sized golf course located west of the turnpike.
So, thank you to Boca Teeca property owners for NOT amending or eliminating your deed restriction on the adjacent golf course so that the Greater Boca Raton Beach & Park District has the opportunity to buy these 200+ acres and bringing 27 championship level golf holes (3-nine hole course) that will greatly improve the recreational attractiveness within the city limits.
It makes no sense to try to eliminate a deed restriction in order to have the perception that the value of the property exceeds the price being paid for the property. The size or characteristics of the property do not change by the elimination of the deed restriction. Accordingly, the best interest of the community is to support the acquisition of the property by the GBRBPD for $24 million and thank the Boca Teeca property owners for NOT changing/removing their deed restriction.
So, thank you to Boca Teeca property owners for NOT amending or eliminating your deed restriction on the adjacent golf course so that the Greater Boca Raton Beach & Park District has the opportunity to buy these 200+ acres and bringing 27 championship level golf holes (3-nine hole course) that will greatly improve the recreational attractiveness within the city limits.
It makes no sense to try to eliminate a deed restriction in order to have the perception that the value of the property exceeds the price being paid for the property. The size or characteristics of the property do not change by the elimination of the deed restriction. Accordingly, the best interest of the community is to support the acquisition of the property by the GBRBPD for $24 million and thank the Boca Teeca property owners for NOT changing/removing their deed restriction.
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Large hotel coming to Boca Teeca?
At this week's meeting of the Greater Boca Raton Beach & Park District there were several important issues discussed by the commissioners and the executive director:
1) Executive director Arthur Koski indicated that a 110-120 room hotel would be planned for the current hotel property at NW 2nd Ave & Jeffrey St. Mr. Koski indicated that he was working with hotel companies who informed him that this would be the minimum size that they would be interested in building on this site using a ground lease agreement with the owner of the building
* Is this in the best interest of the Boca Teeca residential community?
* It would be expected that this size of a hotel would require additional parking - where?
* This would be expected to require widening of NW 2nd Ave.-is this what residents want?
2) New commissioner Craig Ehrnst asked if the Boca Teeca residents would consider removing the deed restriction so the District could use part of the golf course for other park uses, as he stated that residents should be expected to compromise
* Is this new commissioner really asking Boca Teeca residents to remove the deed restriction?
* Is commissioner Ehrnest suggesting that an 18 hole golf course would generate more revenue than a 27 hole golf course? He had been inquiring about the financial impact of acquiring the property for $24 million at previous meetings so this would be very inconsistent to question the financial impact and then suggest reducing the revenue capability by 33%.
Residents may send their comments directly to this commissioner at: cehrnst@mybocaparks.org
3) Mr. Koski assured residents in attendance that the city was not going to select a winner for the bidding the the sell of the current municipal golf course until after a deal is reached by the District & Lennar on the purchase of the Ocean Breeze property.
* No contract has been signed by the District to purchase the Ocean Breeze property, so residents are being asked to trust Lennar in this process.
* Did Mr. Koski see the last city council meeting? Apparently not, as the city council considering selecting a winning bidder and it was obvious that the majority of the council were leaning to the selection of GL Homes over Lennar. There is no legal agreement that Lennar's current offer to sell the Ocean Breeze property to the District for $24 million will continue to exist in the future, especially if they lose the bidding process for the city golf course.
4) There will be another joint meeting with the city council & Park District on May 8th at 4:30pm at 6500 Congress Ave. It is expected that a more thorough presentation by the Park District will get the financing approval process started with the city - requires a 2 council meeting approval process as an amendment to the city budget. The city plans to issue bonds for these funds with an agreement with the Park District to pay the city all principal and interest on these bonds. This is a similar process to how the Park District has acquired other properties in the past. The Park District executive director has stated that there will be no requirement to increase taxes to pay for any estimated costs in acquiring the Ocean Breeze property.
1) Executive director Arthur Koski indicated that a 110-120 room hotel would be planned for the current hotel property at NW 2nd Ave & Jeffrey St. Mr. Koski indicated that he was working with hotel companies who informed him that this would be the minimum size that they would be interested in building on this site using a ground lease agreement with the owner of the building
* Is this in the best interest of the Boca Teeca residential community?
* It would be expected that this size of a hotel would require additional parking - where?
* This would be expected to require widening of NW 2nd Ave.-is this what residents want?
2) New commissioner Craig Ehrnst asked if the Boca Teeca residents would consider removing the deed restriction so the District could use part of the golf course for other park uses, as he stated that residents should be expected to compromise
* Is this new commissioner really asking Boca Teeca residents to remove the deed restriction?
* Is commissioner Ehrnest suggesting that an 18 hole golf course would generate more revenue than a 27 hole golf course? He had been inquiring about the financial impact of acquiring the property for $24 million at previous meetings so this would be very inconsistent to question the financial impact and then suggest reducing the revenue capability by 33%.
Residents may send their comments directly to this commissioner at: cehrnst@mybocaparks.org
3) Mr. Koski assured residents in attendance that the city was not going to select a winner for the bidding the the sell of the current municipal golf course until after a deal is reached by the District & Lennar on the purchase of the Ocean Breeze property.
* No contract has been signed by the District to purchase the Ocean Breeze property, so residents are being asked to trust Lennar in this process.
* Did Mr. Koski see the last city council meeting? Apparently not, as the city council considering selecting a winning bidder and it was obvious that the majority of the council were leaning to the selection of GL Homes over Lennar. There is no legal agreement that Lennar's current offer to sell the Ocean Breeze property to the District for $24 million will continue to exist in the future, especially if they lose the bidding process for the city golf course.
4) There will be another joint meeting with the city council & Park District on May 8th at 4:30pm at 6500 Congress Ave. It is expected that a more thorough presentation by the Park District will get the financing approval process started with the city - requires a 2 council meeting approval process as an amendment to the city budget. The city plans to issue bonds for these funds with an agreement with the Park District to pay the city all principal and interest on these bonds. This is a similar process to how the Park District has acquired other properties in the past. The Park District executive director has stated that there will be no requirement to increase taxes to pay for any estimated costs in acquiring the Ocean Breeze property.
Saturday, February 18, 2017
Good News / Public Golf Returning to Boca
Last week the city & Park Distrcit completed the first 2 steps in the acquisition of the former Ocean Breeze golf course property without any conditions tied to the sell of the city's municipal golf course. It is expected that the joint meeting of the Park District and the City Council on Feb. 28th will provide another cooperative step in the return of championship level golf to the Public in Boca Raton.
If the Park District acquires the property under the current plans, then it is expected that the fully rehabilitated golf course would reopen in approximately 18 months.
If the Park District acquires the property under the current plans, then it is expected that the fully rehabilitated golf course would reopen in approximately 18 months.
Monday, February 13, 2017
Ocean Breeze Deal Almost Final with Beach & Park District
Great News - today the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District unanimously passed a motion asking the City of Boca Raton to support the Park District in purchasing Ocean Breeze Golf and Country Club for $24 million.
The Park District has received and is reviewing a contract from Lennar Homes to purchase Ocean Breeze. The District hopes to have their due diligence completed by the next Park District meeting on February 21st. Funding for the purchase will come from an intra-local agreement between the City and the Park District. The sale of Ocean Breeze is separate from and would not be contingent upon Lennar being the successful bidder for the City's sale of the current municipal golf course.
Additionally, the Park District is in consultation with the Greg Norman Golf Academy to have a golf academy business operating on the property. At his time the Park District does not feel the course needs to be redesigned, just refurbished at a cost estimated to be $9-$12 million. Planning the refurbishment and incorporating a golf academy is anticipated to take about 18 months.
The deal is not finalized, but many thanks to all those who have supported the Keep Golf In Boca efforts to bring public championship level golf back into our city. The final deal may be agreed on at the joint meeting of the Beach & Park District with the City Council on Feb. 28th at 4pm at the community center--put this on your calendar!
The Park District has received and is reviewing a contract from Lennar Homes to purchase Ocean Breeze. The District hopes to have their due diligence completed by the next Park District meeting on February 21st. Funding for the purchase will come from an intra-local agreement between the City and the Park District. The sale of Ocean Breeze is separate from and would not be contingent upon Lennar being the successful bidder for the City's sale of the current municipal golf course.
Additionally, the Park District is in consultation with the Greg Norman Golf Academy to have a golf academy business operating on the property. At his time the Park District does not feel the course needs to be redesigned, just refurbished at a cost estimated to be $9-$12 million. Planning the refurbishment and incorporating a golf academy is anticipated to take about 18 months.
The deal is not finalized, but many thanks to all those who have supported the Keep Golf In Boca efforts to bring public championship level golf back into our city. The final deal may be agreed on at the joint meeting of the Beach & Park District with the City Council on Feb. 28th at 4pm at the community center--put this on your calendar!
Saturday, February 11, 2017
Ocean Breeze update
The city council will meet on Monday at 2pm in their workshop meeting. The golf course issue is not on the agenda but it is expected that the city manager will report on the status of this issue. Public comments are encouraged at the beginning of this meeting in order to support the efforts of Keep Golf In Boca to bring championship level golf to Boca Raton with the assistance of the city council.
The city council meeting on Tuesday at 6pm also has public comment on the agenda / near the end of the agenda. Supporters of Keep Golf In Boca are encouraged to speak in public comments to support the cooperation of the city in efforts to bring championship level public golf back to our city.
On Feb. 28th there is a joint meeting of the city council and beach & park district at 4pm at the community center in which the golf course issue and phase 2 at de Hornle park will also be discussed/add more soccer fields to this popular site on land owned by the city adjacent to the park. This should be a very interesting meeting since this will be the last meeting prior to the city council election on March 14th.
The city council meeting on Tuesday at 6pm also has public comment on the agenda / near the end of the agenda. Supporters of Keep Golf In Boca are encouraged to speak in public comments to support the cooperation of the city in efforts to bring championship level public golf back to our city.
On Feb. 28th there is a joint meeting of the city council and beach & park district at 4pm at the community center in which the golf course issue and phase 2 at de Hornle park will also be discussed/add more soccer fields to this popular site on land owned by the city adjacent to the park. This should be a very interesting meeting since this will be the last meeting prior to the city council election on March 14th.
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