Gainesville City Commission hears presentation from HangTime Golf, votes to explore options for selling/leasing Ironwood Golf Course

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – During the morning session of the June 18 Gainesville City Commission meeting, Commissioners heard an unsolicited proposal from HangTime Golf to either lease or purchase Ironwood Golf Course and voted to explore options for selling or leasing the course.

Interim Chief Operating Officer Brian Singleton said HangTime Golf offered two structures: one is a three-year lease to a purchase, and the other is an outright purchase; he said staff’s preference would be to sell it outright, if the Commission decided to move forward with the proposal. He said that either way, the property would generate property tax revenue, and Ironwood is currently losing about $320,000 a year. There is also a bond tied to Ironwood, and selling the golf course would let the City pay off the bond. 

Staff recommendation

Staff recommended advertising Ironwood as a disposal option for the City, to see if any other proposals are received; staff would then evaluate those proposals and bring back recommendations to the Commission.

Presentation

Craig Carter, representing Coldwell Banker and HangTime Golf, said the proposal was to “continue the $5 fee and pay back the bond that way.” He said a lease would provide “a nice transition period… to give the public some peace of mind. Quite frankly, [HangTime would] rather own it tomorrow, but the reason we wouldn’t do a long-term lease is, they’re going to put probably about $2 million into it, so they’re not going to do that to your asset if there’s not a way to own it.” Carter said the partners have previously redeveloped two driving ranges in Gastonia and Shelby, North Carolina.

Carter said, “This would be family entertainment for East Gainesville, and it will show people you can invest in East Gainesville and be successful, because this group is extremely passionate about it.” He said HangTime would keep it a golf course and would enhance the driving range with TopTracer technology.

Carter said the company would “never be private,… they’re not going to discriminate,” and they intend to have camps for kids. 

HangTime Golf intends to improve the course and install TopTracer technology

Adam Rappaport, the owner of HangTime Golf, said the company intends to improve the conditions of the greens and fairways, enhance the basic design of the course, invest in a world-class practice facility, and install TopTracer technology for practice and for family fun. He also wants to update the main clubhouse and kitchen. He said, “It would be something that would be incredibly inclusive to everybody,… and so I invite you guys to come up to Gastonia and Shelby,… and you won’t believe the diversity in this game right now… It’s a tough sport to get into, and [TopTracer] allows people to really test it, and then to be able to have a golf course there too — this would be a destination, I think.”

Chuck Smith, who would be the golf course superintendent, said, “My biggest passion as a golf course superintendent is taking kids in that age range where they don’t know what they want to do in life, and giving them a career in the golf business, and I’ve done that.” He said he also reduces pesticide use on the courses he manages. He added, “When you go out there and play [at Ironwood], the tees are okay, the fairways are okay, but that’s the end of it. The outside areas are dilapidated, forgotten about, dead trees everywhere. It’s not the look y’all want for the City of Gainesville, and I know it’s not the look that we want to have at that golf course, and we would definitely change that.”

In response to a question from Commissioner Bryan Eastman, Carter said the lease proposal is intended to alleviate concerns from residents that the course would become private or that the land would be redeveloped into a hotel, for example. He also pointed out that the property would go back onto the tax roll if it were leased to a private entity and said the purchasers would be fine with a reverter clause that would return the property to the City if it were used for anything other than a golf course.

Questions about diversity and inclusion

Commissioner Desmon Duncan-Walker said, “As I take a look at your website, some of the questions around diversity and inclusion, I’m not seeing currently represented on your site. So, if you can tell us a little bit specifically about the programs that you currently offer that target diverse populations, I’d love to hear that.”

Rappaport said, “We have tons of diversity… There’s a great article [saying] that 28% of all golfers today are female, and… 25% are people of color… Today, more and more people are starting to play the game that never would have played this game before, and I really do credit it to these technologies in this family entertainment, rather than having to go out on a golf course and spend $80 to play a round of golf.”

Duncan-Walker asked whether the company would keep the current staff, and Rappaport said, “The more people we have that are familiar with the golf course and familiar with the town, is, you know, that’s less people that we have to go out and find… We absolutely would love to keep probably most of the staff.”

Duncan-Walker asked Rappaport to pull together “much more specific information” on diversity in their North Carolina facilities.

Motion

Commissioner James Ingle made a motion to approve the staff recommendation to put out a Request For Proposal for the sale and disposition of the golf course and bring back a recommendation to the Commission. The motion was seconded off-microphone.

Mayor Harvey Ward asked Ingle to change the motion to “sale or lease and disposition,” and Ingle and the seconder agreed.

Singleton said the recommendation should come back before the end of the calendar year. 

Commissioner Ed Book pointed out that the motion “guarantees nothing, but it keeps our options open.”

In response to a request from Duncan-Walker, Ingle added “including public-private partnerships” to the motion.

Final motion and vote

The final motion was to approve the staff recommendation to put out a Request For Proposal for the sale or lease and disposition of the golf course, including public-private partnerships, and bring back a recommendation to the Commission.

The motion passed unanimously.