Link
(it was a lengthy article, I made some cuts)
Golf courses face hazards in St. Charles County
Jason Lee
Of the Suburban Journals
O'Fallon Mo Journal
03/09/2005
ST. CHARLES COUNTY
The golf industry in St. Charles County has seen its fair share of storms in recent years.
Golf enthusiasts thought it was a dark day when St. Andrews Golf Course closed in 2002 to make way for new homes. Clouds have been menacing the St. Charles Golf Course for months as one plan for building homes on the course property fell through while another plan has taken its place.
[snip]
Nowhere have the troubles of the industry been more evident than near the city of St. Charles, where in 2002 the St. Andrews Golf Course, an 18-hole public course that opened in 1967, was sold to one of the county's biggest developers, T.R. Hughes Inc. Hughes is building 339 homes on the 110-acre site with prices in the $250,000 to $500,000 range.
That kind of land value is no match for a golf course owner battling to survive in an ultra-competitive marketplace, said Kirk Porter, St. Andrews' general manager from 1989 to 2000. Porter, who now manages the public Bear Creek Golf Club in Wentzville, said he and others in the golf industry believe St. Andrews' demise could be the tip of the iceberg for courses in St. Charles County.
"St. Andrews didn't shut down because it wasn't making money," Porter said. "The reason it shut down was because the property values had gotten so high in St. Charles County, the owner felt it was time to sell."
[snip]
The balancing act became too much in 2002 for members of the Vogt family, 49-year owners of the public, 27-hole St. Charles Golf Course. Henry Vogt, who served as the mayor of St. Charles for 16 years, and his brother, Francis "Bud" Vogt, opened the course on a former turkey farm in 1956. A 14-member family partnership now owns the course.
In recent years the course has seen declining play and loss of revenue, causing the family to reluctantly seek a buyer for the property. SCGC Development LLC recently contracted to buy the land and submitted plans to St. Charles officials for construction of 456 single-family homes on the 188-acre site, which is nestled between two subdivisions. The course is open on a day-to-day basis until the development receives final approval.
The current price offer for the St. Charles Golf Course has not been publicly revealed. But the Jones Co., which had proposed to buy and develop the land, offered $22 million for the property before withdrawing its plan last year amid strong opposition from nearby residents.
[snip]
The Walters family entered the golf business in 1961 when Dennis' father, "Doc" Walters, opened Bogey Hills as a nine-hole public course. The course was expanded to 18 holes in 1972, and its rising popularity eventually convinced the family to make the course a private club in 1980.
Bogey Hills' membership peaked in the early 1990s with 350 golfing members and 150 social members, Dennis Walters said. Since then, increased competition has caused Bogey's membership to "steadily decline," leaving the family to look for answers with the hope of saving the course from would-be homebuilders.
Walters said he has no intention of selling Bogey Hills. "It's our goal to continue to have this property here as many years as we can possibly do it. The only thing stopping us is this economic scenario," he said.
One of Walters' fears is that Bogey Hills' assessed value and property tax bill could triple or quadruple after the county assessor takes into consideration the price tag developers paid for St. Andrews and eventually the St. Charles Golf Course.
[snip]
Walters and Smith met with several St. Charles officials Feb. 22 to propose a property tax break as part of a deal to have the city annex Bogey Hills, which at 1120 Country Club Road is surrounded by land within the city limits.
During the meeting, club officials unveiled a proposal to ask the Missouri Legislature to allow the assessed valuation of privately owned golf courses ? including those open to the public ? to be capped, which essentially would limit the amount of property taxes the owners would have to pay.
The proposal was described as a "non-development agreement," by which a governing body could partner with a golf course owner to declare the property as "open green space," Walters said.
"Now that people are looking for alternative uses for their golf courses, green space is going to continue to go away," he said.
Currently, buildings at country clubs and golf courses are assessed as commercial property, which under Missouri law is equal to 32 percent of market value. Golf course land is assessed as residential property, or 19 percent of market value.
Walters said several other golf course owners in St. Charles County favor such legislation.
"Almost all of the golf courses are in a similar situation," he said. "It's difficult to get everybody in line, but we all need some relief of some sort. We're all in the same boat."
In addition to keeping the course as green space, Walters said the club could work out possible benefits for the city and its residents.
Those could include: allowing people attending events at the new St. Charles Convention Center to use the course; opening the course for area high school students; or letting residents who aren't club members use the course on a limited basis.
[snip]
"We have lost two golf courses," Riddler said. "I think there's a public interest here in green-space preservation. And secondly, we have a new convention center that needs golf for marketing. We have to have some access for conventiongoers."
[snip]
Determining the value of golf course land is the job of St. Charles County Assessor Scott Shipman. Shipman said it's typical for golf course owners to appeal their properties' assessed values, but little can be done under the current law.
"I have to look at the market and determine the highest and best use of that ground," he said.
Shipman said golf courses that consist of "blocks of land," such as Bogey Hills, are considered "ripe for development." Other courses that "meander through a subdivision" are less desirable for redevelopment, he said.
"We cannot turn our heads from what would be the highest and best use for that land," Shipman said.
The fact that golf courses are assessed at the residential level, 19 percent, is considered a "reward," he said. A course also can receive a tax break if a portion is in a floodplain, he said.
[snip]
Porter claimed special tax consideration should be given to course owners, possibly by creating an individual tax bracket specifically for golf course property.
"What's unique about golf courses is we have to have lots of land to do this business," he said. "We happen to be in St. Charles County where land prices have gone up and up every year. So, they think of that as developable land, so our taxes are going to continue to go up."
Smith predicts the problems facing courses today are "going to be compounded over the next 12 to 24 years."
"These people are not leaving the industry and closing up shop as part of some get-rich-quick scheme," Smith said. "It is indeed their inability to be able to survive in the marketplace. From my experience, in the 20 years I've spent in the golf industry, I think that we've just hit the tip of the iceberg."
(it was a lengthy article, I made some cuts)
Golf courses face hazards in St. Charles County
Jason Lee
Of the Suburban Journals
O'Fallon Mo Journal
03/09/2005
ST. CHARLES COUNTY
The golf industry in St. Charles County has seen its fair share of storms in recent years.
Golf enthusiasts thought it was a dark day when St. Andrews Golf Course closed in 2002 to make way for new homes. Clouds have been menacing the St. Charles Golf Course for months as one plan for building homes on the course property fell through while another plan has taken its place.
[snip]
Nowhere have the troubles of the industry been more evident than near the city of St. Charles, where in 2002 the St. Andrews Golf Course, an 18-hole public course that opened in 1967, was sold to one of the county's biggest developers, T.R. Hughes Inc. Hughes is building 339 homes on the 110-acre site with prices in the $250,000 to $500,000 range.
That kind of land value is no match for a golf course owner battling to survive in an ultra-competitive marketplace, said Kirk Porter, St. Andrews' general manager from 1989 to 2000. Porter, who now manages the public Bear Creek Golf Club in Wentzville, said he and others in the golf industry believe St. Andrews' demise could be the tip of the iceberg for courses in St. Charles County.
"St. Andrews didn't shut down because it wasn't making money," Porter said. "The reason it shut down was because the property values had gotten so high in St. Charles County, the owner felt it was time to sell."
[snip]
The balancing act became too much in 2002 for members of the Vogt family, 49-year owners of the public, 27-hole St. Charles Golf Course. Henry Vogt, who served as the mayor of St. Charles for 16 years, and his brother, Francis "Bud" Vogt, opened the course on a former turkey farm in 1956. A 14-member family partnership now owns the course.
In recent years the course has seen declining play and loss of revenue, causing the family to reluctantly seek a buyer for the property. SCGC Development LLC recently contracted to buy the land and submitted plans to St. Charles officials for construction of 456 single-family homes on the 188-acre site, which is nestled between two subdivisions. The course is open on a day-to-day basis until the development receives final approval.
The current price offer for the St. Charles Golf Course has not been publicly revealed. But the Jones Co., which had proposed to buy and develop the land, offered $22 million for the property before withdrawing its plan last year amid strong opposition from nearby residents.
[snip]
The Walters family entered the golf business in 1961 when Dennis' father, "Doc" Walters, opened Bogey Hills as a nine-hole public course. The course was expanded to 18 holes in 1972, and its rising popularity eventually convinced the family to make the course a private club in 1980.
Bogey Hills' membership peaked in the early 1990s with 350 golfing members and 150 social members, Dennis Walters said. Since then, increased competition has caused Bogey's membership to "steadily decline," leaving the family to look for answers with the hope of saving the course from would-be homebuilders.
Walters said he has no intention of selling Bogey Hills. "It's our goal to continue to have this property here as many years as we can possibly do it. The only thing stopping us is this economic scenario," he said.
One of Walters' fears is that Bogey Hills' assessed value and property tax bill could triple or quadruple after the county assessor takes into consideration the price tag developers paid for St. Andrews and eventually the St. Charles Golf Course.
[snip]
Walters and Smith met with several St. Charles officials Feb. 22 to propose a property tax break as part of a deal to have the city annex Bogey Hills, which at 1120 Country Club Road is surrounded by land within the city limits.
During the meeting, club officials unveiled a proposal to ask the Missouri Legislature to allow the assessed valuation of privately owned golf courses ? including those open to the public ? to be capped, which essentially would limit the amount of property taxes the owners would have to pay.
The proposal was described as a "non-development agreement," by which a governing body could partner with a golf course owner to declare the property as "open green space," Walters said.
"Now that people are looking for alternative uses for their golf courses, green space is going to continue to go away," he said.
Currently, buildings at country clubs and golf courses are assessed as commercial property, which under Missouri law is equal to 32 percent of market value. Golf course land is assessed as residential property, or 19 percent of market value.
Walters said several other golf course owners in St. Charles County favor such legislation.
"Almost all of the golf courses are in a similar situation," he said. "It's difficult to get everybody in line, but we all need some relief of some sort. We're all in the same boat."
In addition to keeping the course as green space, Walters said the club could work out possible benefits for the city and its residents.
Those could include: allowing people attending events at the new St. Charles Convention Center to use the course; opening the course for area high school students; or letting residents who aren't club members use the course on a limited basis.
[snip]
"We have lost two golf courses," Riddler said. "I think there's a public interest here in green-space preservation. And secondly, we have a new convention center that needs golf for marketing. We have to have some access for conventiongoers."
[snip]
Determining the value of golf course land is the job of St. Charles County Assessor Scott Shipman. Shipman said it's typical for golf course owners to appeal their properties' assessed values, but little can be done under the current law.
"I have to look at the market and determine the highest and best use of that ground," he said.
Shipman said golf courses that consist of "blocks of land," such as Bogey Hills, are considered "ripe for development." Other courses that "meander through a subdivision" are less desirable for redevelopment, he said.
"We cannot turn our heads from what would be the highest and best use for that land," Shipman said.
The fact that golf courses are assessed at the residential level, 19 percent, is considered a "reward," he said. A course also can receive a tax break if a portion is in a floodplain, he said.
[snip]
Porter claimed special tax consideration should be given to course owners, possibly by creating an individual tax bracket specifically for golf course property.
"What's unique about golf courses is we have to have lots of land to do this business," he said. "We happen to be in St. Charles County where land prices have gone up and up every year. So, they think of that as developable land, so our taxes are going to continue to go up."
Smith predicts the problems facing courses today are "going to be compounded over the next 12 to 24 years."
"These people are not leaving the industry and closing up shop as part of some get-rich-quick scheme," Smith said. "It is indeed their inability to be able to survive in the marketplace. From my experience, in the 20 years I've spent in the golf industry, I think that we've just hit the tip of the iceberg."