New round of golf housing
Developers take a swing in outlying areas; homes with built-in "lifestyle"

After a considerable lull, new golf course communities are beginning to crop up again on Chicago's suburban periphery.

Developments marrying golf and houses are either under construction or planned in Elgin, Hawthorne Woods, Yorkville, Woodstock, and Kenosha, Wis. In fact, three projects are being considered in Yorkville, a fast-growing town of 10,000 west of Aurora.

Lynn Dubajic, executive director of the Yorkville Economic Development Corporation has lived in the Blackberry Oaks golf course community in nearby Bristol since 1996. "I love living on a golf course. It gives you the feeling you're on vacation when you come home from work and look out over the fairways," she says. "I think more and more homebuyers in the future are going to want to invest in that kind of lifestyle."

The current golf development binge represents the first wave of new construction since the late 1980's, when golf communities such as White Eagle in Aurora, Wynstone in North Barrington and Eaglebrook in Geneva were being built. Over the past decade, the market around Chicago went dormant as overbuilding led to financial strains at many local courses. Private clubs such as Eaglebrook have had to discount their fees substantially to attract members.

Golf Downturn

New construction here flies in the face of what's happening in the rest of the country. Golf play is down nearly 4% since Sept. 11, 2001, according to the National golf Foundation in Jupiter, Fla. new course openings have plummeted - from 399 in 2000 to 151 last year.

"We once projected that we would need a lot of new courses, but the problem has been that demand hasn't kept up with supply," says James Kass, director of research at National Golf. "So, in some markets, we have an oversupply of courses."

A variety of developers - from national homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc. to entrepreneurs such as former Chicago Bears star Jal Hilgenberg - will test the limits of local homebuyers' interest in golf. Mr. Hilgenberg, with partner Edelberg-Shiffman Development LLC of Lincolnshire, is investing some $12 million in a 7,100 yard golf course and sprawling private clubhouse on a former strawberry farm on the west side of Kenosha. The partners have sold some 200 acres around the course to Neuman Homes Inc. or Warrenville, which is planning to build more than 600 houses.

The golf course, designed by Rick Jacobson of Libertyville-based Jacobson Golf Course Design Inc., is slated to open in August as a for=profit private club called Strawberry Creek, with memberships priced initially at $18,500. And memberships will be transferable: Sell your house and the buyer inherits the membership rights. "We think that feature will be a big asset for resales here eventually," says Barry Shiffman, a principle at Edelberg-Shiffman.

Arnold Palmer Course

Mr Hilgenberg, who retired from football in 1993 at the age of 35, invested in a golf course community in Tennessee about a decade ago and lost money. But he's a seven-handicap with a passion for the game and figures that the Strawberry Creek location - just a couple of miles off Interstate 94 midway between Chicago and Milwaukee - can't miss.

"I believe in land development, and I think that pairing golf with homes is an ideal combination," Mr Hilgenberg says, adding " There's a good chance I'll move here eventually, to live on the golf course."

Toll Brothers, based in Horsham, Pa., assembled eight farms totaling 674 acres to put together the Hawthorn Woods Country Club on Schwerman Road. the golf course, due to open later this year, was designed by Arnold Palmer and has cost $20 million, clubhouse included. Construction on nearly 600 planned residences, priced from $225,000 to more than $1 million, started a year ago.

Membership Fees

Where's the profit in these projects? To begin, Andrew Stern, a Toll vice-president, estimates that any house on a golf course commands a price premium of at least 12% to 15%. "An $850,000 home in an ordinary subdivision could command upwards of $1 million next to a golf course," he says.

There are also the golf memberships. Toll has already sold 115, currently $35,000 each, and expects to eventually reach his goal of 350. that would cover more than $12 million of the cost of the golf course.

Toll also is developing the Bowes Creek Country Club in he far west side of Elgin, where the company plans more than 900 houses on 608 acres. There, the plan is to build the golf course and then deed it to the city to b run as a public facility. Again, Jacobson is the design firm.

A couple of decades ago golf courses were often squeezed into as little as 125 acres. But the latest high-technology equipment has forced designers to lengthen their layouts. "Now you need at least 180 developable acres, "Mr. Jacobson says. "Players are hitting the golf ball farther now, and there are newer safety guidelines that call for wider corridors for each hole." Translation: Fewer homeowners today will tolerate golf balls flying onto their patios.

Near Yorkville, a 400-acre subdivision called White Tail Ridge, on state Route 126, calls for 240 homes around an 18-hole course. It has already garnered approval from the Kendall County Board. Local developer Ronald Walker is a lead partner in the venture.

One Too Many?

Nearby, Eagle Development Group Inc. of Saint Charles is near a deal for a 300-acre parcel fronting the Fox River that would accommodate a private golf club and 300 residential units that could go for as much as $700,000. Christopher Louis, president of Eagle, says individual lots will be up to $160,000 when construction begins, probably next year. He's also working on a golf course community proposal for a Woodstock site.

In any housing development, wetlands, flood plains and retention basins are a fact of life. Golf courses typically have these otherwise unbuildable tracts incorporated into their layouts. "We've got deep ravines and riverfront flood plains in Yorkville that would not be much good for houses, but they're fine for golf," Mr. Louis says. "In fact, the finished golf course will take up only 30 acres of buildable land."

That suits local municipal officials. Yorkville Mayor Arthur Prochaska Jr. says city officials are likely to look favorable upon any golf course community proposal, Eagle's included. "Golf courses can be very valuable. The give a subdivision an open, spread-out feeling," he says.

However, Mr Shiffman and Mr. Hilgenberg are also negotiating for land within the city of Yorkville for a golf community, and Mr. Prochaska wonders about the risk: "We did a study a couple of years ago that showed Yorkville needed a new golf course. More than one, I'm not so sure.