FAYETTEVILLE -- The city's oldest public golf course is teed up for a major residential development.
A company registered to Jim Lindsey of Lindsey Management Co. is under contract to buy Razorback Park Golf Course and plans to build several hundred apartments and houses on the 125-acre property, according to city documents, the golf course owner and Scott Rogerson, chief financial officer for Lindsey Management.
Lindsey Apartments
A company registered to Jim Lindsey of Lindsey Management Co. submitted preliminary plans for a residential development with 668 apartment units and 233 single-family houses on 125 acres where Razorback Park Golf Course is located. Here’s how the development would compare to other apartment complexes in Fayetteville owned by Lindsey Management:
NameLocationYear Built*Units
ApplebyGregg Avenue1986*216
Chestnut IPoplar Street1984*44
Chestnut IIChestnut Avenue1984*216
The Cliffs ICliffs Boulevard1995*396
The Cliffs IICitrine Link2002*360
CornerstoneFutrall Drive2001*228
Crafton PlaceBob Place1993*84
Crossover TerraceJohnell Drive1995*84
East OaksKantz Drive1989*164
Fair ParkAlthea Drive1999*228
The Greens at Lakeside VillageVillage Lake Drive1994*384
Lakeside VillageVillage Lake Drive1994*264
The Links at FayettevillePlayer Lane2008*604
Markham HillStone Street1997*112
Paradise PointCrossover Road2008*16
The ParksParkshore Drive2001*324
ShilohCreekridge Way2002*240
Southern ViewFutrall Drive2003*300
StarrfireShannon Drive1995*60
Stearns StreetCadillac Drive2005*276
Valley LakeValley Lake Drive1992*156
Vantage CenterCadillac Drive2010*95
Source: LindseyManagement.c…
Preliminary plans up for review Monday at a Parks and Recreation Advisory Board meeting show 668 apartment units and 233 single-family houses on land where the golf course sits.
It's unclear if Lindsey will incorporate new or existing golf holes in its development.
"Plans are still being finalized at this time," Rogerson said Friday.
A conceptual drawing from Blew & Associates engineers shows several rows of houses consuming most of the front nine holes of the golf course. More than 20 single-family lots would abut a pond surrounding an island green on the course's 10th hole.
Apartments are envisioned in about three dozen buildings on the southern half of the property, leaving little -- if any -- room for golf holes. A clubhouse, pool and volleyball, tennis and basketball courts are also shown on the drawing.
Several entrances to the development are shown on Deane Solomon Road, a narrow, two-lane street with no curb and gutter on the west side. A connection with Raven Lane in the Crystal Springs subdivision is planned on the north side of the development along with three street stub-outs to undeveloped land to the west of the golf course.
Razorback Park was built in 1959 as a nine-hole golf course, according to newspaper accounts. The back nine was added in 1990.
According to Washington County property records, Ron and Linda Caviness bought the golf course from David and Lori Taylor in 2007 for $1.7 million. The Taylors paid $759,000 for the course in 1985.
Caviness said Friday he plans to close on the deal with Lindsey in October. The course will remain open until then.
"It hate it, but it's a financial decision," Ron Caviness said Friday. "I can't keep losing money."
Caviness said the course has been listed for sale since June.
"Golf's been in a downward spiral for the last 10 years," he added.
National trends echo Caviness' statement.
The National Golf Foundation in 2014 reported more golf courses closed than opened in the U.S. for an eighth straight year.
Average profit margins for privately owned courses and country clubs have been in the red for several years, according to a report from Sageworks, a financial information company.
About 175 golf courses were listed for sale Friday on LoopNet, a national commercial real estate website. Prices ranged from $99,000 for a nine-hole course in Balaton, Minn., to $13.8 million for an 18-hole course on 144 acres in Koloa, Hawaii.
According to Washington County property records, the Golf Club at Valley View, an 18-hole public course on more than 140 acres in Farmington, sold for $3.1 million in 2004.
Rogerson didn't disclose how much Lindsey agreed to pay for the Razorback course.
Lindsey Management runs two other public golf courses in Fayetteville: the nine-hole, Par 3 Lakeside Village Golf & Athletic Club off Gregg Avenue; and a nine-hole regulation course at the Links of Fayetteville off of Wedington Drive. The Fayetteville real estate mogul also co-owns Paradise Valley Golf & Athletic Club, a private, 18-hole course south of Joyce Boulevard.
The city's fourth public course, Stonebridge Meadows Golf Club, opened in 1997 off of Dead Horse Mountain Road in southeast Fayetteville. It's owned by Meadow Enterprises, according to county records.
Lindsey owns four other Links courses in Springdale, Lowell and Bentonville. The company's Greens on Blossom Way Golf and Country Club is a nine-hole public course southeast of the Pinnacle Hills Promenade that's surrounded by apartments. Lost Springs Golf & Athletic Club is Lindsey's 18-hole private course on North 22nd Street in Rogers.
Members of the Fayetteville Parks and Recreation Advisory Board will consider whether to accept park land with the Razorback Golf Course development or money in lieu of park land dedication. Lindsey's company is proposing an 8-acre land dedication along Clabber Creek and a $588,000 payment to the city.
A visit to the parks board is one of the first steps in the development review process for residential projects.
Jeremy Pate, Fayetteville Development Services director, said his office hasn't received any formal plans for Razorback Park. He added the golf course must be rezoned before a project of the scope Lindsey is proposing can move forward.
The land is zoned residential-agricultural and residential single-family-four units per acre.
"Most of it's very low density single-family," Pate said.
NW News on 05/30/2015