UPDATED, June 25, 3 p.m.: Developer Ari Pearl and real estate investor Mickey Taillard propose to redevelop a Hollywood golf course with luxury residences and hire professional golfer Jack Nicklaus’ design firm to redesign the course.
Pearl and Taillard’s plan for the Club at Emerald Hills property calls for a luxury clubhouse, 416 luxury rental units, 30 townhouses and 40 golf villas on five parcels of the 167-acre course, according to a press release.
Nicklaus Design would redevelop the course into an 18-hole golf course. Kobi Karp of Kobi Karp Architecture and Interior Design is the project architect.
First Eagle Management LLC, led by Todd Schoenwetter, owns the golf course. Pearl and Taillard, both Emerald Hills residents, are partners and developers of the project, a spokesperson said. Schoenwetter has tried to rally community support to redevelop the course in the past, but failed to do so.
The developers applied for a land-use plan amendment that was submitted to the city of Hollywood and Broward County.
As proposed, the clubhouse would include a resort-style pool, a tennis center, banquet facility, restaurant, fitness facility, locker rooms with treatment areas, an indoor basketball court, kids club, and hammock garden.
The rentals would be located on holes 18, 16 and 8, and the townhouses and villas would be on the outskirts of the course. Pearl and Taillard are proposing to redevelop less than 10 percent of the course, according to the release.
Members will be able to use other Jack Nicklaus International Golf Club courses. The club will offer a discounted rate for Hollywood residents, as well as golf, tennis and social memberships.
Taillard said in the release that he wants to “preserve and enhance” the course as golf courses shut down across the country at “an alarming rate.”
Homebuilders have increasingly snapped up golf courses in South Florida, as the supply of available land has dwindled and the popularity of golf has declined.
In March, 13th Floor Homes closed on 120 acres of a former golf course west of Delray Beach to build a master-planned active adult community for residents 55 and older.
Pearl is also working on a major mixed-use project in Hallandale Beach. In September, he secured a $100 million loan for the $220 million SLS Resort Residence & Marina Hallandale Beach development, also designed by Karp. Pro golfer Greg Norman is designing the 18-hole championship golf course.