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Who will be the winner of the south Florida golf boom? 820 549 Madison Silvers

Who will be the winner of the south Florida golf boom?

162 holes, 13 big-name architects, all within a 10-mile radius

Ken Bakst, the founder and developer of Friar’s Head on Long Island, crouches into the driver’s seat of a two-man Gator utility vehicle and cranks the engine. We’re off to explore what will become The Ranch, his soon-to-be 36-hole golf club in Martin County, Florida. We drive for half a mile across barren pastureland and through a series of steel gates that prevent the wanderlust of the roughly 800 head of cattle that call the property home. Eventually we come to a section of land that looks mostly like what we’ve passed: flat, grassy and intersected with drainage ditches. A few pockets of trees break the horizon, but the only other elevations are dozens of seven-foot-high white stakes that represent the tees, fairways and greens of what will become the East and West courses.

Little here suggests the makings of a national-level golf club: no heaving sand dunes, no sunset marsh vistas, no forests of elevated tees and cascading creeks. It’s difficult to envision an architecturally compelling design existing on this site, but Bakst has been through this before. Large portions of Friar’s Head, now ranked 15th on America’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses, were dead flat and had to be transformed into a riveting tapestry of sand, bumps, fescues and frolicking turf, much of the work done by Dave Axland and Rod Whitman, who helped construct the course for architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw in the early 2000s. Axland, Whitman and partner Keith Cutten will build The Ranch. As Bakst sees it, this property has the potential to achieve something greater than its countenance suggests.

Some of the most esteemed players in investment, real estate and golf development—Bakst at The Ranch; Michael Pascucci at The Apogee Club with partner Stephen Ross; Discovery Land Company with Atlantic Fields; Chris Shumway’s (investor and founder of Shumway Capital) Rolling Sands; and Dominik Senn’s Panther National (15 miles south in Palm Beach Gardens)—are sensing something similar, namely an opportunity to capitalize on the surging demand for private golf in this section of Florida. Across a 10-mile stretch of Martin County, west of the sleepy beach town of Hobe Sound and just north of Jupiter, these investors are building or preparing to build eight private upscale courses at five properties. Another club, McArthur, has added a second course that will open this fall. The plans total 162 new golf holes, not counting several short par-3 and regulation-length practice courses.

What exactly is happening in Martin County, and to a lesser extent adjacent Palm Beach County, that’s so attractive to golf’s highest rollers and prognosticators? For 15 years, almost all new course construction has been driven not by need or location but rather by the discovery of gorgeous golf sites like Streamsong and Sand Valley. A lot of squinting is required to picture a similar level of destination-worthy golf in Hobe Sound. As one architect familiar with the properties puts it, “These people are investing tens of millions of dollars, and none of the sites are any good.”

Imagination, engineering and money will be required to transcend the limitations of these flat parcels that are largely indistinguishable from the terrain on which hundreds of other south Florida courses have been built. Tabbed with making that happen are some of the biggest architects in the profession. In addition to Whitman, Axland and Cutten are Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw; Tom Doak; Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner; Tom Fazio; Tommy Fazio and Mike Davis; Kyle Phillips; and Nicklaus Design.

It amounts to what may be the biggest architectural bake-off in the history of the profession, with the generation’s top designers working virtually simultaneously within miles of each other, none with a clear topographical advantage or any relative budget constraint. Similar architectural flurries happened in locales like Westchester County (New York), Los Angeles and Chicago in the 1910s and 1920s, but those were slower and the result of population growth and city expansion. It’s also different from contemporary epicenters like Bandon Dunes or Kiawah Island that are each owned or operated by single entities. The Martin County properties are starting independently from nearly the same point, all blank canvases with only minor variations. Each architect and team will be attempting to not just produce a style of course that outclasses the typical Florida golf stereotype but outclasses each other. By sometime in late 2025, all nine courses may be complete, each product primed for consumption and scrutiny. It’s like asking Monet, Degas, Renoir and Manet to each paint a riverside garden using only four colors of paint.

Read the full article in Golf Digest.

Find out more about Hart Howerton here.

What a racket: Pickleball is the Hamptons’ hottest amenity 876 624 Madison Silvers

What a racket: Pickleball is the Hamptons’ hottest amenity

pb 2

America’s fastest-growing sport is definitely popular among plebes. But lately, pickleball — a cross between, tennis, ping-pong and badminton — has become borderline bougie.

Don’t expect to visit the Hamptons this summer, for example, without encountering a waitlist for the three new courts at Dune Deck Beach Club, open only to members.

“If you walk into any of our clubs between the hours of 8 a.m. and 12 p.m. the courts are packed,” said Mike Meldman, founder and chairman of Discovery Land Company, owner of the exclusive Hamptons beach club residences.

Hamptonites who don’t want to wait (or can’t afford Dune Deck’s annual membership dues) are playing at the Barn in Westhampton, Sportime in Amagansett and Around the Post Pickleball, LLC, in Hampton Bays.

Pickleball is infiltrating other tony ZIP codes, too. All of Discovery’s luxury resort communities — from Barbuda to Portugal — now have pickleball courts.

Read the full article in the New York Post.

The Luxury Real Estate Empire Where Tom Brady and Reese Witherspoon Can Hide Out 1024 665 Madison Silvers

The Luxury Real Estate Empire Where Tom Brady and Reese Witherspoon Can Hide Out

series of buildings nestled among a pastoral setting on a pond at autumn time

In the inner circles of luxury real estate, hard-core golfers and connoisseurs of upscale homes aren’t considered part of the cognoscenti if they don’t own a property in a Discovery Land Company community. At the very least, they need to know the brand, and, ideally, aspire to eventually become an owner.

Founded in 1994 by Mike Meldman, who is also a co-founder of Casamigos Tequila, the real estate business has a portfolio of 27 private high-end golf communities in North America, the Caribbean, and now Europe with the recent debut of CostaTerra Golf & Ocean Club in Portugal’s Comporta region.

How ironic is it then that Meldman wasn’t a golfer when he started his company and was motivated by the popularity of master-planned golf communities instead? “I sensed the opportunity to create a brand that filled a missing gap in the market,” he says. “I wanted properties that were upscale but not formal like all the golf clubs out there. And they had to have lots of fun amenities.”

These principles have led to wild success: Today, Discovery Land Company counts a long list of boldface names as members. The mix of celebrities and CEOs includes Gisele Bündchen and Tom Brady, Reese Witherspoon, Michael Jordan, Weight Watchers CEO Mindy Grossman, iHeartMedia COO, and CFO Richard Bressler, and Rande Gerber and Cindy Crawford.

High-profile homeowners aside, Meldman’s business has exploded in the wake of COVID. “There was a strong demand for homes at Discovery communities even before the pandemic, but COVID has dramatically magnified demand,” he says.  “An overwhelming number of Discovery members quarantined at our clubs when the pandemic hit the U.S. in March 2020.” Nearly 100 families stayed at the Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, Montana, Meldman says, with many more quarantining at the Madison Club in La Quinta, California, and Silo Ridge Field Club in New York’s Hudson Valley.

“Toward the end of April, as it became clear the pandemic would be present for some time, we started receiving substantial interest from buyers looking to acquire new properties over FaceTime, or close on properties they looked at before COVID hit,” he says. “It was evident that families were looking to our communities to protect themselves from the threat of the virus.”

The Yellowstone Club has especially experienced extraordinary growth since early 2020, according to Meldman, and many families looking to relocate also set their sights on Driftwood Golf & Ranch Club outside of Austin, and Troubadour Golf & Field Club in Nashville. Other clubs have seen a substantial increase in sales to younger families, a demographic that isn’t typically attracted to golf communities. After all, the perception is that they’re meant for retirees.

Read the full article at Architectural Digest.

A Pickleball Court: The Hot New Amenity in Real Estate Developments Today 974 642 Madison Silvers

A Pickleball Court: The Hot New Amenity in Real Estate Developments Today

Pickleball has replaced golf as the most coveted sports amenity in luxury residential developments. 

blue and green pickle ball court with two woman playing on either side of the net dressed in gym clothes

Pickleball courts at Troubador Golf and Field Club in Nashville.

A Pickleball court (or three) can now claim to be the hottest sports amenity in high-end real estate developments today. So forget golf – go for the pickle!

A decade ago, golf was a key amenity driving residential sales, especially when it came to vacation homes, but, recently, buyers are more attracted to pickleball—a combination of tennis, ping-pong, and badminton. In fact, it’s been called America’s fastest-growing sport and in 2019 it saw a 21.3% increase in participation, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association’s 2021 Topline Participation Report.

The luxury real estate brand Discovery Land Company is at the forefront of the trend and features pickleball courts in every one of its 26 properties. These include Troubadour Golf and Field Club in Nashville and El Dorado Golf and Beach Club in Cabo San Lucas. The game has been so popular that Discovery is currently doubling the number of courts in many of its locations, but the additions still won’t be enough to satisfy homeowners’ demand, according to the company’s founder Mike Meldman. “The great thing about the game is that it attracts people of all ages, and it doesn’t require skill or athleticism,” he says. “It’s easy to play but has a steep learning curve,  making it still challenging as skills improve. It’s also an excellent workout.”

Other examples of pickleball in developments abound around the United States, the Caribbean, and Mexico.

The final development on our list, Tumble Creek at Suncadia, in Cle Elum, Washington, about 80 miles from Seattle, is set on the sunny side of the Cascade Mountains. The 6,400-acre resort has a clubhouse with a bowling alley and game room as well as an aquatic center. But the highlight for residents these days are the new pickleball courts at the three-acre Weekley Park. “Tumble Creek owners love the courts and wait in line to use them,” says Corey Atherton, a managing broker with the property. “They’ve become the social center for the development and where everyone wants to be.”

Read the full article at Architectural Digest.

Real Estate is Booming in the Chic Seaside Region of Comporta in Portugal 1024 576 Madison Silvers

Real Estate is Booming in the Chic Seaside Region of Comporta in Portugal

fly over perspective of a long coast line with a desert scape on the shoreline

When it comes to vacation home destinations in Portugal, the Algarve, in the south, may have an international name, but the cognoscenti and well-heeled are increasingly gravitating to Comporta. An hour’s drive south of Lisbon, Comporta is part of the country’s Alentejo region and comprised of small villages that dot the coastline including one of the same name. It’s an area with a flat landscape that’s full of rice fields, pine trees, sand dunes, and farms.

“Ten years ago, no one had heard of Comporta, but now it’s on the map because there are so many real estate projects happening there,” says Alex Koch de Gooreynd, a partner at the real estate firm Knight Frank and an expert on Portugal’s real estate. But despite the development, he says that the various properties are well spread out and in line with Comporta’s barefoot living ethos.

“Comporta will never feel crowded or overrun because there are so many regulations around the building and protecting the land,” says Koch de Gooreynd. “This is not a place for wild nights out. People socialize in each other’s homes.” Also worth noting is that the region has become a favorite for designers and the fashion set including Alexandra Champalimaud and Jacques Grange, who both own homes there and are working on two of the new projects.

 The biggest and buzziest real estate venture in Comporta is CostaTerra Golf & Ocean Club, from the Scottsdale-based Discovery Land Company, which has a portfolio of more than a dozen high-end residential clubs in the United States and the Caribbean (Discovery is founded and run by Mike Meldman, who is also a co-founder of Casamigos tequila).
Read the full article at Architectural Digest.
Why Troubadour Club Is Making Nashville Hotter Than Ever Before 960 694 Madison Silvers

Why Troubadour Club Is Making Nashville Hotter Than Ever Before

Nashville already has a lot going for it as a destination- there’s the great music scene, fantastic Southern food, old-fashioned hospitality, shopping and so much more.

sunset aerial of a golf course set in the obvious souther region of the united states with regionally appropriate plantings

Here’s another reason to fall in love: Discovery Land Company’s Troubadour Golf and Field Club, an exclusive, private community on 860 acres, with 375 residences, an 18-hole Tom Fazio golf course, top quality food, and family-friendly events and activities throughout the year.

Nashville, Tennessee is one of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S., and people have flocked to Troubadour Club in the wake of the pandemic.

Members of the club must first own property at the development. Discovery Land Company, Troubadour’s parent company, is known for its excellent amenities, family-centric settings, and service, and Troubadour captures the essence of all three.

Discovery Land Company also has a reputation for its Tom Fazio golf courses. Troubadour’s course has hosted premier golfers such as Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, and Rickie Fowl

Troubadour’s outdoor activities include go-carts, archery, skeet shooting, ax throwing, and fishing. There’s a spa, incredible gym, and kids’ club with so many activities (hello art studio!) that the kid’s clubs at the best resorts pale in comparison.

Let’s talk about the food: the terrain-to-table fare highlights fresh ingredients from the on-property farms. The organic garden and greenhouses provide sustainable produce, and a family barn hosts cooking classes and education on agriculture and local fare. Every diet is catered to, and every food preference is met. Fresh salad with a lean protein and low-calorie dressing? Or a corn dog with a side of mozzarella sticks or a Dover sole with haricots verts? Check, check and check again. Top-notch wines and spirits (more Casamigos) are always at the ready.

Now, to what makes Nashville so special and Troubadour all the more appealing. Gigi Levangie Glazer, a bestselling author, screenwriter, and television producer, recently move to the city from Los Angeles and describes her love for Music City in a few thoughtful words. “I think my husband and I were in a daze from the moment we stepped foot in Nashville, mesmerized by the energy of the city, the kindness of strangers, and the sense that life was worth living,” she says. “It’s almost like what I imagine Los Angeles used to be – where young, ambitious people headed because that’s the city where anything was possible and dreams would come true and you could live your best life; I feel the same way about Nashville today.”

Read the article at Forbes.

Four Seasons to debut in Naples, Florida 384 384 Madison Silvers

Four Seasons to debut in Naples, Florida

The Athens Group and MSD Partners, L.P. have announced the acquisition of Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club, which will become the first Four Seasons and First Discovery Land project on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Here’s what we know…

seaside rendering looking at the beach from the water. A large resort like complex sits on the sand wit clear blue water, lush greenery and beach goers

The Athens Group and MSD Partners, L.P. have announced that they have acquired the legendary former Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club, set on 1,000 feet of white-sand beach in iconic Old Naples. Athens and MSD will be redeveloping the site into the Naples Beach Club, a 125-acre resort and residential beachfront development offering a one-of-a-kind, luxury lifestyle destination to residents, members, and guests.

“Our partnership with Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts and Discovery Land Company reinforces our commitment to develop the finest luxury resort on Florida’s Gulf Coast,” said Kim Richards, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Athens Group. “Naples Beach Club will be a contemporary interpretation of the traditions, style and spirit of Old Naples.” 

The special coastal community will include a 216-key hotel managed by leading luxury hospitality company Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, up to 185 luxury residences and unparalleled club amenities curated by Discovery Land Company, the developer and operator of world-renowned private residential club communities. Construction is scheduled to commence in 2022. 

“We are excited to partner with The Athens Group on the development of this extraordinary property, and we are thrilled to be working with Four Seasons and Discovery Land on what will be a first-time collaboration for this world-class team,” added Barry Sholem, Partner and Chairman of Real Estate, MSD Partners. 

“We are proud to be a partner in this exceptional project, bringing the vision of MSD and Athens to life by setting a new standard of luxury in Naples.” – John Davison, President and CEO, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.

The 216-room Four Seasons Resort will complement the luxury residences as a retreat exuding the grandeur of a private beachfront Floridian estate. 

“The incredible Naples Beach Club marks the debut of Four Seasons on Florida’s Gulf Coast, complementing our existing portfolio of luxury properties throughout the state,” said John Davison, President and CEO, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. “We are proud to be a partner in this exceptional project, bringing the vision of MSD and Athens to life by setting a new standard of luxury in Naples and delivering our brand’s personalized service and quality excellence to this beloved beachfront community.” 

The Resort will include spacious guestrooms and suites with lounging porches, walk-in closets and luxurious five-fixture bathrooms. Resort amenities will include inspired indoor and outdoor lounges and restaurants flowing from the hotel lobby, a beachside garden with outdoor pools, cabanas and an event lawn, upscale retail stores, an event ballroom, and multiple dining experiences with dramatic views of the Gulf of Mexico. In addition, Market Square, located near the golf course, will be a vibrant gathering place for the Naples Beach Club community, offering a general store, a bar and grill with a game room and a bowling alley, a Kids Club, casual eateries, including an ice cream pavilion, and an expansive lawn. 

“Naples Beach Club represents a natural extension of our portfolio of luxury hotels and resorts, including our Four Seasons properties in Wailea and Hualalai, the Fairmont Miramar in Santa Monica, and The Boca Raton.  We are delighted to be partnering with Athens, Four Seasons and Discovery Land on this iconic development,” said Coburn Packard, Partner and Head of Real Estate, MSD Partners.     

The newly imagined Naples Beach Club will feature up to 185 homes designed by renowned architectural firm Hart Howerton with interiors by Champalimaud Design. The first phase of homes will include 58 Beachfront Residences with four Beach Houses and four Penthouses as well as 12 Golfside Residences, all conveying the Gulf Coast’s relaxed aesthetic.

Additionally, Naples Beach Club will offer residents and members unmatched and inspired club amenities curated by private-club developer and operator Discovery Land Company. Exceptional multi-generational and health-focused experiences will include a variety of wellness amenities along with golf and tennis, an indoor/outdoor fitness centre and a world-class spa.

“The Residences at Naples Beach Club will set a new standard for Naples living, located in the heart of the vibrant Naples community, while also providing owners with an intimate club experience located directly outside their door,” said Michael Meldman, Chairman, Discovery Land Company. 

Read the article at Hotel Designs.

In with the new 1024 912 Madison Silvers

In with the new

It’s official — iconic Naples Beach Hotel property sells to make way for redevelopment.

naples daily news cover story preview

Read the full article at Naples Daily News.

THE ATHENS GROUP AND MSD PARTNERS, L.P. ANNOUNCE ACQUISITION OF NAPLES BEACH HOTEL & GOLF CLUB AND ITS REDEVELOPMENT AS THE NAPLES BEACH CLUB, A RESORT AND RESIDENTIAL COMMUNITY IN ICONIC OLD NAPLES 722 406 Madison Silvers

THE ATHENS GROUP AND MSD PARTNERS, L.P. ANNOUNCE ACQUISITION OF NAPLES BEACH HOTEL & GOLF CLUB AND ITS REDEVELOPMENT AS THE NAPLES BEACH CLUB, A RESORT AND RESIDENTIAL COMMUNITY IN ICONIC OLD NAPLES

Naples Beach Club will be the first Four Seasons and first Discovery Land Project on Florida’s Gulf Coast

seaside rendering looking at the beach from the water. A large resort like complex sits on the sand wit clear blue water, lush greenery and beach goers

The Athens Group and MSD Partners, L.P. announced today that they have acquired the legendary former Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club, set on 1,000 feet (300 metres) of white-sand beach in iconic Old Naples. Athens and MSD will be redeveloping the site into the Naples Beach Club, a 125-acre (50 hectare) resort and residential beachfront development offering a one-of-a-kind, luxury lifestyle destination to residents, members, and guests. This special coastal community will include a 216-room hotel managed by leading luxury hospitality company Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, up to 185 luxury residences and unparalleled club amenities curated by Discovery Land Company, the developer and operator of world-renowned private residential club communities.

“Our partnership with Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts and Discovery Land Company reinforces our commitment to develop the finest luxury resort on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Naples Beach Club will be a contemporary interpretation of the traditions, style and spirit of Old Naples,” said Kim Richards, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Athens Group.

“We are excited to partner with The Athens Group on the development of this extraordinary property, and we are thrilled to be working with Four Seasons and Discovery Land on what will be a first-time collaboration for this world-class team,” added Barry Sholem, Partner and Chairman of Real Estate, MSD Partners.

Four Seasons Resort Debuts in Naples

A 216-room Four Seasons Resort will complement the luxury residences as a retreat exuding the grandeur of a private beachfront Floridian estate.

“The incredible Naples Beach Club marks the debut of Four Seasons on Florida’s Gulf Coast, complementing our existing portfolio of luxury properties throughout the state,” said John Davison, President and CEO, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. “We are proud to be a partner in this exceptional project, bringing the vision of MSD and Athens to life by setting a new standard of luxury in Naples and delivering our brand’s personalised service and quality excellence to this beloved beachfront community.”

The Resort will include spacious guest rooms and suites with lounging porches, walk-in closets and luxurious five-fixture bathrooms. Resort amenities will include inspired indoor and outdoor lounges and restaurants flowing from the hotel lobby, a beachside garden with outdoor pools, cabanas and an event lawn, upscale retail stores, an event ballroom, and multiple dining experiences with dramatic views of the Gulf of Mexico. In addition, Market Square, located near the golf course, will be a vibrant gathering place for the Naples Beach Club community, offering a general store, a bar and grill with a game room and a bowling alley, a Kids Club, casual eateries including an ice cream pavilion, and an expansive lawn.

“Naples Beach Club represents a natural extension of our portfolio of luxury hotels and resorts, including our Four Seasons properties in Wailea and Hualalai, the Fairmont Miramar in Santa Monica, and The Boca Raton.  We are delighted to be partnering with Athens, Four Seasons and Discovery Land on this iconic development,” said Coburn Packard, Partner and Head of Real Estate, MSD Partners.

Extraordinary Luxury Residences and Amenities to Inspire Community

The newly imagined Naples Beach Club will feature up to 185 homes designed by renowned architectural firm Hart Howerton with interiors by Champalimaud Design. The first phase of homes will include 58 Beachfront Residences with four Beach Houses and four Penthouses as well as 12 Golfside Residences, all conveying the Gulf Coast’s relaxed aesthetic.

Additionally, Naples Beach Club will offer residents and members unmatched and inspired club amenities curated by private-club developer and operator Discovery Land Company. Exceptional multi-generational and health-focused experiences will include a variety of wellness amenities along with golf and tennis, an indoor/outdoor fitness centre and a world-class spa.

“The Residences at Naples Beach Club will set a new standard for Naples living, located in the heart of the vibrant Naples community, while also providing owners with an intimate club experience located directly outside their door,” said Michael Meldman, Chairman, Discovery Land Company.

Construction is scheduled to commence in 2022. Pre-sales for the first phase of residences launched earlier this year.

For more information, visit www.naplesbeachclub.com or email directly info@naplesbeachclub.com.

About The Athens Group

For more than 30 years, The Athens Group has been widely regarded as one of the nation’s preeminent developers of upscale resort communities, luxury resort and urban hotels, golf courses and related residential and recreational properties, having developed properties including Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch, Montage Laguna Beach and Montage Deer Valley.

About MSD Partners

MSD Partners, L.P. is an SEC-registered investment adviser that utilizes a multi-disciplinary strategy focused on maximizing long-term capital appreciation by making investments across the globe in its core areas of expertise – Credit, Real Estate, Private Capital and Growth. MSD Partners was formed in 2009 by the partners of MSD Capital, L.P., which is the family investment office for Michael Dell, the Founder & CEO of Dell Technologies. MSD Capital was originally established in 1998. Michael Dell and his family are substantial clients of MSD Partners. Together, MSD Capital and MSD Partners manage over USD 22.0 billion of assets and are currently invested in nearly USD 8.0 billion of real estate. In addition to Naples Beach Club, MSD’s investments include Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea and Four Seasons Resort Hualalai in Hawaii, the Fairmont Miramar in Santa Monica, The Boca Raton, significant holdings on Knox Street in Dallas, over 13,000 multifamily units and numerous developments in Austin, Texas including 601 W. 2nd Street, which will, upon completion, be the tallest office tower in Austin.  Additional information regarding MSD Partners, which operates from offices in New York, Santa Monica and West Palm Beach, may be found at msdpartners.com.

About Discovery Land Company

Discovery Land Company is a US-based real estate developer and operator of private residential club communities and resorts with a world-renowned portfolio of domestic and international properties. Some of their properties include Baker’s Bay in the Bahamas, Gozzer Ranch in Idaho, El Dorado and Chileno Bay in Los Cabos, Mexico, Yellowstone Club in Montana, and Kuki’o and Makena in Hawaii.

About Hart Howerton

With headquarters in New York and San Francisco, this global team of architects, landscape architects, planners, and strategists brings an interdisciplinary perspective to some of the world’s most sensitive environments—creating sustainable places that become successful hospitality ventures for their investors and lasting legacies as resorts. Past projects include Kukio Golf and Beach Club and Montage Palmetto Bluff.

About Champalimaud Design

Headquartered in New York City, this multi-disciplinary design and planning firm specialises in bespoke, high-end hospitality and residential design. The firm’s forward-thinking design teams have partnered with global clients to create some of the world’s most distinctive properties, including the Beverly Hills Hotel Bungalows and The Plaza New York.

Read the original press release here.

Find continued circulation of today’s, October 19, 2021, press release at Hospitality Net, Hotel Management, WCAX, and WKYT.

Golf Real Estate Roars Back as Vacation Homes Boom in Pandemic 1024 934 Madison Silvers

Golf Real Estate Roars Back as Vacation Homes Boom in Pandemic

As interest in vacation homes skyrockets, buyers are rethinking life on the greens.

modern barn style condo building with wide dark wood planks on a green

Wayne Swadron wasn’t looking to be near a golf course when he bought a plot of land at South Carolina’s Palmetto Bluff in 2018.

Sure it had an 18-hole, par-72 course designed by the great Jack Nicklaus. But the 55-year-old architect in Toronto was more impressed by the area’s natural beauty and the breadth of other amenities. “We were principally looking for an escape from cold winters,” he says.

He wasn’t in a hurry to erect a home on the property either—that is, until March 2020. Once the reality of Covid-19 set in, however, he hurried to start and now considers it the family’s principal winter residence.

As recently as 2016, developers of golf communities were doing so poorly that they were donating courses to national parks to take a tax break. Hundreds of them closed during the last decade after the building boom of the 1990s and early 2000s. But like so much of life since the pandemic, everything around the game has changed: A new spate of beginners has taken it up—the National Golf Foundation estimates that a record 3 million people in 2020 tried golf for the first time. Existing fans have been playing more rounds, too, while sheltering in place and working remotely.

That rebound has extended to real estate as interest in vacation homes of all kinds has skyrocketed. “Demand for private golf club community amenities and real estate is at all-time highs,” says Jason Becker, co-founder and chief executive officer of Golf Life Navigators, which matches homebuyers with golf course communities.

Surveys conducted by GLN found that, since March 2020, 64% of those seeking both a club membership and a home were choosing to buy real estate inside a golf community—a stark contrast from 2019, when only 51% intended to live on such properties. “Before Covid hit,” Becker says, “the demand was to buy outside the gates of a golf community. But you need people to live inside to support the amenities.”

Dan O’Callaghan, director of sales for Discovery Land Co., estimates that the residential-community developer was doing $60 million in sales annually at its Silo Ridge property before Covid-19, but that number jumped to $130 million after. “In general, our numbers doubled during the pandemic,” he says. Following a trend across the country and internationally, buyers in search of turnkey homes and cushy services discovered its development 90 minutes from Manhattan in New York’s Hudson Valley. “If they’d had more homes that were completed,” O’Callaghan says, “we could have sold more.”

Developer Ben Cowan-Dewar reports that the properties in his latest project, Cabot St. Lucia in the Caribbean, also sold well ahead of schedule. “The demand exceeded our wildest expectations,” he says. “Product releases that we expected to take months sold in days.”

Sales figures for the Kiawah Island Club community near Charleston, S.C., meanwhile, totaled $152 million in the first quarter of 2021, with a 237% increase in the number of sales from the same period last year and a 337% increase from the first quarter of 2019. August 2020 was the highest-grossing month in the club’s history, with sales approaching $100 million. (The following month was its second-highest.)

What’s pushing this market segment isn’t really the golf, however. GLN’s survey found that the pandemic has increased the importance of safety and security for buyers, a perception that many of these communities invite with gates out front.

The evolution of remote work has also been critical. Both O’Callaghan and Chuck Cary, vice president for sales at Kohanaiki Realty LLC on the Big Island in Hawaii, say the biggest change they’ve seen on the property side is the home office build-out. “It’s no longer a closet tucked off the kitchen,” Cary says. Instead, the office is a prominent feature of the home, allowing for expansive views, such as the ocean and mountains, as is the case with Kohanaiki. Two Apple Inc. executives have even moved their families there, committing to running their divisions away from the mother ship.

Broker Kevin Sneddon of Compass real estate calls it “the great reshuffle,” which is all determined by the lifestyle buyers desire. “People want to be in a tony market. It’s a controlled environment, and it’s safe and luxurious.”

At Sand Valley Golf Resort in Wisconsin, where a private course, the Lido, is being built for homeowners, developers projected it would take seven years to sell its 17 lots, some as large as 22 acres. But they’re already sold out after a year.

“I don’t want to speak to the whole market,” says owner Michael Keiser Jr., who runs the property with his brother, Chris. “But in Wisconsin, I feel like Americans have had an existential reckoning over the last year and a half of their lives. For a lot of people, the answer is spending time with my family and spending time in nature and working on my terms and working where I want to work.”

Location, as usual, remains a big catalyst for the growth at the properties run by Chris Randolph of South Street Partners, including Kiawah Island Club, Palmetto Bluff, and the Cliffs, a development that encompasses several properties along the North and South Carolina border. “They’re all in irreplaceable, beautiful settings,” he says.

But Randolph says the seeds of this uptick were planted before the pandemic. In the mid-2000s, “golf communities essentially just got overbuilt, and a lot of bad golf courses were constructed, which were used as a means to sell real estate without any focus on what that external experience or club experience would be like,” he says. “The segment took a major hit over the last 10 years, and candidly, I think it should have because it wasn’t a thoughtful plan.”

Families, not retirees, are spurring sales now. Existing programs and facilities have seen a boost—Kiawah Island Club’s summer camps and swim teams for children, for example, had many more attendees this summer than in past years.

At Silo Ridge, the hockey rink was the most popular spot last winter. Food trucks were brought in for those who were tired of cooking, and tutoring arrangements were set up to help with remote learning. The community is looking to expand on that program with the help of nearby elite secondary schools, as well as add sports camps using the coaching staff of those same institutions.

At each of Randolph’s properties, the buyers—parents or grandparents who wanted their extended families nearby—have been the ones pushing for both housing and new ways of living. Club use by legacy members at a Cliffs community in Asheville, N.C., is up more than 110% since 2019. At Palmetto Bluff, where the architect Swadron bought a plot in 2018, 45 families are now living there full time with school-age children.

Swadron’s four sons are not school-age anymore, but the plot was a pandemic boon for them nonetheless. “Initially we expected to be there sporadically,” he says. But as a result of the lockdowns and closures last year, each of them was there during the winter for anywhere between four weeks and four months. “This was an unexpected pleasure to spend large amounts of quality time together in our new home as a family,” Swadron says. “The house was designed with this possibility in mind, but we never really expected it to happen.”

Read the full article at Bloomberg.

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