- Gainesville City Commission opened a 30-day window for proposals to purchase, lease, or partner on Ironwood Golf Course after a 6-1 vote.
- HangTime Golf offered $1.7 million upfront and plans to invest $2.4 million to renovate and rename the course Gainesville National.
The Gainesville City Commission will further entertain the idea of selling Ironwood Golf Course after a Thursday vote to open a 30-day window for anyone to submit purchase, lease or public-private partnership proposals.
The vote came after HangTime Golf, owned by two UF alumni, approached the city in February and said they’d like to buy and renovate the course. This unsolicited proposal was reviewed by Gainesville staff and sent to the City Commission.
HangTime offered a $1.1 million purchase price, enough to remove the city’s outstanding debt for the course, along with $600,000 on top. HangTime said it would invest another $2.4 million into improving Ironwood Golf Course in the first year.
The company would also want to rename the course to Gainesville National.
At Thursday’s meeting, city commissioners discussed different ways to move forward, whether a lease, outright sale or public-private partnership.
The city-funded study said the golf course needs significant capital investment, and the city already spends around $320,000 more in annual expenses than it has budgeted for the course, Gainesville’s Chief Operating Officer Brian Singleton said.
Craig Carter is a former city commissioner and real estate agent who is working with HangTime on the proposal. He said the commission, during his time, also looked at creative ways to reuse the site, like a concert venue.
Commissiooner Bryan Eastman said he worries about what happens to Ironwood Golf Course if the private sports market, or golf market, downturns and the property turns to a new use. He also said if the Florida homestead exemption passes in November, the city will face harder decisions about what to cut and may be glad Ironwood is privately owned.
“It has always been on the line as to what the future of Ironwood Golf Course is going to be,” Eastman said. “And I think it’s more on the line than ever because of where our ad valorem taxes and operational costs are going to be.”
Carter said there’s no guarantees when a property changes hands. He said he can’t give with complete confidence that the land won’t be an empty lot in 30 years, but the HangTime team said they’re passionate about making it work as a business and asset.
Adam Rappaport lived in Gainesville from 1991 to 1995 while attending UF. He said his family returned to the city for Gator games, with season tickets for football last year. But he was surprised to find, with golf having a “heyday,” that Gainesville lacked places to play.
He went to Ironwood and said the greens were in OK shape, but the rest of the course was in the roughest shape he’s seen there. He said HangTime wants to return it to an asset that draws people from all over North Central Florida.
“I am totally committed to turning that golf course around,” Rappaport said. “It would be something that would be incredibly inclusive to everybody.”
Rappaport said new technology, like Toptracer, has helped draw people into the game, and Chuck Smith with HangTime said that technology is helping create the adult golfers of the future.
He said the goal is not to take Ironwood away but to make it better for the city. HangTime has two locations in North Carolina open for the last six years. Both were turnaround projects.
Mayor Harvey Ward agreed with Carter that nothing is guaranteed but said the city would want as stringent a reverter clause as possible so that, if HangTime fails to meet certain thresholds, the city would regain ownership.
The city recently used a reverter clause and a new development deal to keep ownership of Lot 10, which aims to break ground soon.
Interim City Manager Andrew Persons said the conversation Gainesville will have in the coming months about the golf course is the same as other cities and counties.
“I would imagine many jurisdictions across the state are probably weighing these same decisions right now with a variety of assets going forward,” Persons said, referencing the homestead property tax amendment.
Commissioner James Ingle made the motion to open the request-for-proposal process. The motion passed 6-1 with Commissioner Casey Willits in dissent.
Singleton said the city will review all submitted proposals and return to the commissioners before the end of the year with a recommendation. He said the process usually takes six months, but staff will try to cut that down as much as possible.