City of Boca Raton buys Ocean Breeze golf course, plans renovations

Ocean Breeze Golf Club

A long-planned $24 million deal to buy a shuttered golf course in Boca Raton has finally closed, property records show.

The city of Boca Raton and its Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District bought the former Ocean Breeze Golf Club, a 27-hole golf course at 5801 Northwest Second Avenue. Records show the seller was an entity of Wells Fargo, which seized the property through foreclosure in 2016.

Developer Lennar Homes originally was under contract to build homes on the 212-acre course in the Boca Teeca neighborhood, but the plan never materialized amid opposition from residents.

In September, the city approved spending $24 million to buy the site. Park district officials estimate that the cost to design and renovate the golf course could total more than $18 million, according to published reports.

The renovated golf course, to be called the Boca Raton National Golf Club, is set to open by late 2019 or early 2020, according to the Sun Sentinel.

Developers have been picking up golf course properties in recent years as the sport’s popularity continues to fall and vacant land for residential development grows scarce.

Miami-based 13th Floor Homes is seeking to build 350 single-family houses on 140 acres of the Carolina Club golf course in Margate. Pulte Homes is also planning to build a single-family home development on a golf course in Tamarac.

Therealdeal.com