ROMANIA
Swiss Golf & Leisure invests in resort project
Swiss Golf & Leisure, a development company formed by five Swiss and Romanian businessmen, is investing €50 million into a golf course community in the town of Dragomiresti Vale.
The development will include an 18-hole golf course, 350 residential units and a four-star hotel. It is the second golf course community to be developed in Romania.
The first, Silver Mountain, involved a €350 million investment by developer INR Management.
MOROCCO
Vast resort development to include new golf course
Plans to develop a nearly 1,000-acre lakefront site near the city of Ouarzazate will include construction of a new golf course surrounded by residential villas.
Situated near Lake Mansour Eddahbi, the development, called Ouarzazate Lake City, will also feature a hotel-casino, non-gaming hotels, shops, entertainment and various residential elements.
The project’s Morocco-based developer, Palmeraie, has hired CB Richard Ellis’ Las Vegas-based Global Gaming Group to help find a casino operator.
John Knott, executive vice president of Global Gaming Group, said the project could be similar to Atlantis Paradise Island in the Bahamas by Kerzner International Holdings and, thanks in part to its location just nine miles from an international airport, estimated it could generate $100 million in annual gaming revenue.
SOUTH AFRICA
Construction set to begin on Lee Westwood design
Construction is expected to get under way early next year on an 18-hole Lee Westwood Signature golf course as development of the vast St. Michaels International Leisure Estate in Dullstroom continues.
A private clubhouse will be built alongside the course.
Spanning 800 hectares in the Mpumalanga Highlands, St. Michaels will include 650 contemporary homes designed by architect Laurence Brown to showcase Scottish country architectural style.
The first phase of residential construction is already underway, with 40 percent of the lots available in the phase having been sold to date.
The project also calls for development of a 100-room, five-star hotel that will include a conference center, health spa, gym, indoor swimming pool, tennis courts, sports facilities, restaurants, pubs and terraced dining areas, and a retail square.
ENGLAND
Luddington looks to develop in Hertfordshire
Luddington Investments, a London-based golf course owner and operator, is moving forward with plans to convert a partially constructed golf course covering 160 acres in Hertfordshire into the Centurion Club, a high-end, 18-hole, par-72 course measuring 6,805 yards in length.
The company will seek to raise €1.95 million in investment capital required to purchase the existing golf course and surrounding land. Interested investors are being asked for a minimum €40,000 commitment.
Under the leadership of Roy Horton, Luddington is currently involved with the construction, management and operation of seven golf clubs in the region.
ENGLAND
Elvaston Castle renovation to yield 27-hole golf course
Work is scheduled to begin next summer on a €35 million renovation of the historic Elvaston Castle in Derbyshire into a resort hotel.
The renovation will include development of a new 27-hole golf course on approximately 120 acres of adjoining land, according to plans announced by Highgate Sanctuary, the project’s developer.
Highgate officials will submit an official application to the South Derbyshire District Council this fall, and both the hotel and golf course are expected to open some time in 2011.
The Elvaston Castle estate was owned and operated by the local city council for more than 40 years before escalating maintenance costs, which averaged €500,000 annually, as well as the need for €3 million in repairs, forced the city to seek private investment.
In 2004, Highgate Sanctuary agreed to a 150-year lease to manage the castle and part of the surrounding grounds.