Useful real estate development lessons for the Big Schemers of Emerald City
By Curmudgeon
Long article in today's New York Times, describing how golf course real estate developments are going under all across the land. It's headlined "The Course That Got Away."
Struck me as I read it that the ones in trouble seem to have been financed [or planned to be] by selling lots and houses to build the next stage, and by charging owners club membership fees to operate the courses.
In the current market, the developers are tanking and closing the golf courses to save money, leaving many unsold lots and houses, and leaving those who did buy with much diminished properties.
Yes, the similarities to what was apparently being planned for Ogden by Hizzonah and Mr. Peterson some years ago caught my eye. Anyway, I found it interesting reading and not wholly unrelated to Ogden. Worth a look.
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3 comments:
pulled this out of the article,
"A course generally costs about $5.2 million to build, double if a clubhouse, restaurant and pro shop are included, according to a 2005 study by GOLF 20/20, a coalition of equipment manufacturers, course operators and golfing associations managed by the World Golf Foundation, a group founded 15 years ago to promote interest in golf. But courses aren’t cheap to operate, with maintenance costing $800,000 to $1.2 million a year."
i find it interesting that godfrey think he can do all this for 6 to 8 million dollars and most of the courses in this cost range are on relatively flat ground. also the comment in the article on operating costs should indicate that our grounds keepers are doing one heck of a job at keeping our city course operating costs down and of course our course is not yet trying to carry the projected even larger burden of debt if godfrey gets his way.
I think we should all be very very grateful that we have been saved by our fearless leader, Lord Godfrey, and his incredible and legendary business acumen. It was only he that stood against the huge mass of miss-informed citizens who wanted to sell the golf course to Peterson for a few pieces of fools gold. It was only he who single handily saved us all from a financial calamity.
God bless Little Matt for standing firm against the rapacious evil forces masquerading as some sort of "Smart Growth" group and for bravely representing the interests of Ogden's citizens.
Thanks for the reminder, Ozboy. Through the magic of the internet, and the physical properties of electrons bouncing around within little wires, we bring you another little trip down memory lane:
Boss Godfrey Decides Not to Sell Our Crown-jewel Park
And here's another reminder, while we're at it:
Engage Brain Before Opening Mouth
Gawd do we love Ogden City poilitics, or WHAT, eh ozboy?
heheheh.
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