Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Private Partnership topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board forwards Orange Brook golf‑course redevelopment land‑use change to City Commission
Summary
The Planning & Development Board recommended the City Commission approve a land‑use plan amendment to allow a public‑use clubhouse and a hotel within a designated portion of the Orange Brook Golf Course as part of a public‑private partnership; the developer described a plan that includes a rebuilt public championship golf course, clubhouse, hotel and residential towers with 100 units reserved as rent‑restricted 'hero housing.'
The Planning & Development Board on Sept. 10 voted to forward a land‑use plan amendment and a companion text amendment to the City Commission that will allow a segment of the Orange Brook Golf Course to be used for a clubhouse and hotel as part of a public‑private redevelopment.
Keith Poliakoff, representing the public‑private partnership (PPG/GCF) and co‑applicant on the request, described a redevelopment concept that, he said, includes a $26 million reinvestment in the golf course, a new 15,000‑square‑foot clubhouse, a 175‑room hotel adjacent to the clubhouse and a championship‑caliber golf course redesign by Rees Jones. Poliakoff said the project would also include three residential towers with roughly 750 apartments combined, of which 100 units would be reserved as rent‑restricted housing for city employees, teachers, veterans and other qualifying groups.
Poliakoff said the driving range is being relocated as part of the plan and that the team has already secured approvals from the Army Corps, DEP and county for seawall and similar elements tied to earlier work. "We're putting in a new 18‑hole championship course designed by Rees Jones ... and a 175‑room hotel is being developed," Poliakoff said, adding the project is structured so the golf course remains public and city rates are controlled.
A member of the public raised concerns that the property was donated with a donor condition that it remain a golf course; that commenter asked the board to preserve the land as open golf course. The developer said the plan retains a public course and adds community amenities, including a 50‑foot nature/walking trail encircling the course and a lit 9‑hole practice area intended for youth programming. Staff clarified that the text amendment creating a 'commercial recreation' category is limited in city language to golf‑course‑plus‑hotel uses and that any future land‑use changes would require separate amendment processes and county review.
The board recommended forwarding the land‑use amendment (open space recreation to high residential and commercial recreation for the specified acreage) to the City Commission; the motion passed unanimously. The City Commission will have the final decision and additional public hearings will follow.
