Golf courses could suit new, affordable land for new construction to a tee

With California’s housing shortage problem, developers may be approaching golf courses for useable land.

Golf courses are often sold at a discount to development land sites for repurposing and they have turned out to be perfect spots for new home developments. However, golf courses may be on deed-restricted land which could pose as a major development challenge.

GlobeSt. says courses could  be a major win for the housing crisis by providing a more affordable land option to developers, but it wouldn’t solve every problem.

Jeff Woolson, managing director of golf and resort properties at CBRE, says the golf industry was way overbuilt in the 2000s.

“Developers were building more than a golf course a year for 10 or 15 years, and they weren’t building them because they thought it would successful. They were building the golf course as an amenity for residential community,” Woolson said, adding there are more golf courses closing a year for the last several years than opening and developers are trying to repurpose a lot of the golf courses that are closing. “That is a huge trend right now in the business.”