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City, CRA, to purchase old golf course acreage

$10.4 million land buy hailed by officials and Save Our Recreation group alike

By MEGHAN BRADBURY 4 min read
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A contract to buy the 175-acre parcel at 4003 Palm Tree Blvd., past home of The Golf Club, has been approved by Cape Coral City Council and the South Cape Community Redevelopment Agency Commission, with closing some time after Oct. 1. CITY OF CAPE CORAL

The city of Cape Coral, in partnership with the South Cape Community Redevelopment Agency, will move forward with purchasing The Golf Club, a property that has been closed since 2006, for a price of $10.4 million.

Cape Coral City Council acts as the CRA governing commission and the city’s manager serves as the CRA director. The votes were unanimous.

“We have been after this for 15 years. I love the fact that we are finally in a place where we can purchase the property at a fair price. Now we’ve got it at a reasonable price, and it will be priceless for this community as we move forward to develop it. A big win for the city,” said Councilmember Tom Hayden, acting as a CRA Commissioner said during meeting held before Wednesday Council session.

The CRA approval was for a payment in the amount of $5,395,643 to the City of Cape Coral for the contribution of the purchase of the former golf club acreage at 4003 Palm Tree Blvd.

The City Council’s subsequent approval will provide $4,055,000 from the general fund and $1,004,357 from the stormwater fund towards the purchase price.

The purchase price is $10.4 million plus one half the closing costs for an estimated not to exceed price of $55,000.

Mayor John Gunter said the property owners wanted $14 million, but the city held its ground. He said one day out of the blue, the assistant city manager got a phone call and said they would take the deal.

“This isn’t something we are going to buy tomorrow and next week start building there. We still have a lot of things to do. This is definitely a three-to-four-year plan down the road. It’s a step in the right direction, but still a long way to go,” Gunter said.

Still, the purchase was praised by Save Our Recreation, a citizen group formed years ago in hope of preserving the acreage as green space.

“Overall the comments were very positive,” said SOR member Barth Wolf in an email blast after the vote. “Council members used words like ‘historic’ and ‘momentous.’ when talking about this. The Mayor said we can make this the “Central Park of Cape Coral.

“Now we just need to continue to be involved and make sure it gets turned into a great asset for the city that preserves this beautiful green space. Thank you to all who showed up for the meetings today and thanks to all who have supported preserving the golf course over the last 18 years.”

The closing on the property will happen soon after Oct. 1 with the intent that the 175 acres to be used for future green space with recreational activities.

“This is tremendous for the city — the people that live in the neighborhoods surrounding it,” Councilmember Dan Sheppard said, sitting as a CRA commissioner.

He added that when the golf club closed down it depressed and blighted the area.

“We are going to lift that neighborhood back up — create a destination that will bring people to the downtown,” Sheppard said, adding this has been one of his missions for many years and he is really excited about what is happening.

City Manager Michael Ilczyszyn said during the City Council meeting that they will do a more routine schedule to cut the lawn, remove some invasive exotics that have grown on the property, as well as embark on a process to engage the public, most likely after the Parks & Recreation Master Plan is completed.

City staff will take that data from the master plan to help shape what may be a good fit for the golf course property and move into more focus groups.

The site will need some environmental remediation due to its previous use.

“The site is contaminated. We do need to get an understanding — some areas where we do need to protect the health and safety of the public,” Ilczyszyn said. “Safety is first and foremost.”

He said one of the things they are talking about doing is a cleanup day with the community to show them the immediate support of the acquisition of the park.

“We are thinking of ways to immediately engage the public in turning the place around,” Ilczyszyn said.