On Wednesday (6.22.22), Will Gustafson sent out an email to members of The River Club announcing a change in ownership. There are bound to be questions about what this means to the membership, how it affects the planned development along State Street, and is the timing of the redesign of the course effected. Here’s what we know.
Back in November 2021 the ownership of the club changed from Glass Creek LLC to BPCP River Club LLC. This change allowed Gustafson to move forward more easily with some of his planned improvements to the club. The current change in ownership now defines exactly what the footprint of the development along State Street will be. Lincoln Property Company (LPC) has purchased the right to that 22+ acre site. Since the majority of the golf course is a single property and a lot split is not an option, LPC is on the county assessors records as part owner of the entire golf course. However, apparently the purchase agreement between Gustafson and LPC specifies that when the permitting process moves forward LPC will own the 22 acre site and Gustafson will be the sole owner of The River Club.
Gustafson and LPC are planning on holding several neighborhood meetings to outline the plans they have for the multi-use development along State Street. The first of these meetings should happen in July. The early talk about the development suggests the multi-use development will include several hundred residential units, a restaurant or two, coffee shop, and other commercial units. All of this will be permitted through Garden City and the Specific Area Plan (SAP). The SAP is a zoning ordinance that requires the developer to call out what will be done with the area and to proceed through the normal permitting process. This means multiple public hearings, Design Review, Planning and Zoning, and City Council approval.
The target for the development and the course redesign is 2024. Gustafson feels very hopeful that this date will hold true and work could actually start in fall 2023. It will take a little help from and coordination with ACHD, but it is very possible. And yes, the course will be closed for the 2024 season. In order to help keep the construction time of the course redesign to a minimum the grass from the 22 acre development site will be recycled and used on the course redesign and some of the soil will be utilized for contouring of the course. It’ll be a major undertaking. It is estimated Gustafson will be investing approximately $10 million in the redesign of the golf course.