Don't know how many of you are following what is going on at the Union Hills Country Club, but you may well be interested. UHCC is one of the 3 private golf courses in Sun City and the last one built and opened in 1978. Located in phase 3, it has lots of great remodeled properties bordering the course. The story get better as there is a local Elks Lodge located just outside of the Sun City walls on Union Hills and 107th. It is a very popular spot for lots of Sun City residents with pretty good food, reasonably priced drinks and a really solid membership (something over 3000). Last week, the lodge had a membership meeting. It had one purpose, and one purpose only. A vote was called by those in attendance, which was standing room only and more turned away because they met their limits according to fire code. They wanted the membership to authorize moving forward on the purchase of a larger building. You guessed it; the building they are seeking is none other than the Union Hills Country Club clubhouse. It does not include the golf course, but the pool, outside patio area and main building is included in the deal. Hard to imagine a private country club without a clubhouse, but i guess running the course is doable, if it's just for golf. If you have followed my comments over the years, i have often wondered how long these three private clubs could/would hang on. All three have been sold over the last dozen years from being membership owned to private investors and the one thing that is a given is the land under them is far more valuable than running them as golf courses. Should be interesting to see how this plays out.
I live on UHCC, about 200 yds from the aging club house. Several years ago a developer proposed tearing down the club house, building a smaller clubhouse, and using that space, taking space from the parking lot and tennis courts to build condos. I think the number of condos was 72. To do so all property owners abutting the property had to approve. That didn't happen. (BTW we voted yes) Not sure if the same vote would be required to approve a change of ownership to the clubhouse that would involve a major change to the function of the facility. If so I would doubt it would be approved. My biggest concern would be noise.
Hey fix. I remember that failed effort, but this one looks to be a whole different animal. Word has it the owners already have a lower bid on the property and the Elks might be willing to pay more. I doubt they'd want anything to do with owning the golf course. You know better than I the fight that will come if they ever try and sell the course off as something other than a golf course. The simply truth is the land is worth 20 fold what it's worth as a golf course. My fear from day one has been once the three private courses moved from membership owned to individuals, there was always the chance they could try and shop it as raw land. I know the owners around the course would raise holy hell, but these battle have been fought in court before so there is clearly legal precedence. Time will tel , but i suspect the clubhouse won't be where the battle ground will be.
At one point the PalmBrook Country Club was up for sale and the RCSC was toying with buying it. Thank god they didn't because the last thing they need is another course. It ended up selling to several guys, much like the other two private clubs. The land the courses sit on is worth 20 fold what it's worth as a golf course. The problem is if and when they try and close/sell it, the property owners on the course will sue. As R pointed out, letting it turn to cow pastures is one technique owners use to eventually settle suits, but there are other ways. In the end, you can't force people to run a business that can't make a profit on, and unfortunately, golf is one of those challenges that hasn't done well of late.
Seems property owners would have to own the golf course before they could win a suit over a change. Do they have any part of the land deeded to their house? If they did, they would also be responsible for part of the upkeep. On Dawn Lake we do have a percentage of the lake deeded to our property. And we are responsible for the upkeep. How can property owners make demands if they don’t pay the upkeep? I guess a golf view is a good deal. You can claim ownership of the view without any responsibility for it.
Looks as if a mistake was made when the group bought the land in bad repair. They couldn’t claim a change had happened that was not financially feasible for them...they knew what they bought. I do wonder how a court could force a business to maintain something. Maybe they wouldn’t give a permit to build houses but to maintain a golf course in a certain way? That fight isn’t over yet.
Emily, it is not the properties along the course that are deeded as golf only properties, it is the golf course itself that has the deed restriction. The golf course has a usage restriction that says it must be maintained as a golf course.
