Chicago's Sydney Marovitz (waveland) Development Proposal

[goplutus]

see: Harding Park, Torrey Pines

Here in Chicago, the Park District courses tend to be jam packed, in ok shape, and of mediocre layout. On the North Side, the Sydney Marovitz course takes up a prime plot of land right on the lakefront. As opposed to California, which has tremendous muni's in Torrey Pines (San Diego) and Harding Park (San Francisco), Chicago doesn't have a 'flagship' course that's of major championship quality, fairly cheap for the locals (under $100), and pricey for those outside the city.

What would it take to put together a group / proposal to buy up a bit of land up to the harbor and build a course fitting of the city and the land dedicated to it? Obviously, those who know Chicago know getting anything logical done is a nightmare. But this seems like a great missed opportunity to both create a revenue stream, increase tourism, and market to people who may be inclined to move to the suburbs.

I'd appreciate any thoughts on the general proposal, and interest / expertise around working this idea. A public / private partnership would be a perfect option, in my opinion.

[jabrch]

Well....The closest thing to what you ask is Harborside. It's close to the lake...and close to downtown...and is of high quality. The price isn't OUTRAGEOUS to play. There is Jackson Park - but I would hardly call that "Major Championship Quality"

To buy up enough space to put an 18 hole, major quality golf course, on the lake, would be damn near impossible. Assume you are willing to go as far North as Evanston and as far South as Jackson Park. I am sure the Park District wouldn't WANT to sell Jackson Park - but with the economic state of the city, nothing is impossible.

Another thing to keep in mind is the Fort Sheridan project. It's not "Chicago", but it is close enough... and there was nobody willing to bid on it due to the highly restrictive RFP that the Lake County Forrest Preserve put out there to appease the tree huggers.

Honestly - Chicagoland has it's share of elite and just sub-elite level, public and private golf courses. I don't see room for a major project to create a new one. That said, this wealthy guy with bad hair now has a stake in Chicago...and there are no courses with waterfalls...so who knows?

[goplutus]

Ha, yeah. From the north side (Lincoln Park, Lakeview) it takes about 45 minutes to get to any decent track other than Harborside (even that takes 30 or so).

For the land, the city already owns the land all the way up the lake, it'd just need to be re-purposed. The 9 hole track that the current Waveland course takes up, the driving range at diversey, and the parkland in between should be enough space.

[jabrch]

[quote name='goplutus' timestamp='1329329922' post='4291619']
Ha, yeah. From the north side (Lincoln Park, Lakeview) it takes about 45 minutes to get to any decent track other than Harborside (even that takes 30 or so).

For the land, the city already owns the land all the way up the lake, it'd just need to be re-purposed. The 9 hole track that the current Waveland course takes up, the driving range at diversey, and the parkland in between should be enough space.
[/quote]

That's not enough land to build a REAL golf course....Not even close. And the city won't be repurposing land that is critical to the community to create a luxury golf course....just not going to happen.

The Chicago area has great golf options. But you are right - Chicago itself does not.

[break80consistently]

This is an interesting idea, but would realistically never happen.

I used to live on Waveland and could walk to the Marovitz course in less than 10 minutes. I played the course a few days after moving in to my apartment and it was in such bad shape that I think I only played it one more time in the two years I lived there. Decent layout, but the course got a ton of play and they didn't maintain it.

I think there used to be a golf course downtown on the Chicago river. Not sure how long ago they took that course out.

From a golfer's perspective, I do not miss living in Chicago.

[Confiado]

[size="2"]you forgot to mention that [color=#1C2837]Marovitz is a nine hole course and it usually takes 4 hours in the summer to get a round in. in my opinion, it's the worse 9 hole course i have ever played. I agree, Harborside is an awesome course that's isn't that far from downtown and you get a pretty nice view of downtown it isn't cloudy. [/color][/size]

[Tom S.]

From my understanding, the original plans for the Waveland course was for 18 holes but then somewhere along the way, they cut it down to a 9 hole course and used the other land to put in Montrose Harbor.

[smilin assassin]

You would have to grease MANY, MANY, palms. It is the way Chicago business/politics is done, lived here all my life. I hope you and your investors have very deep pockets and influence in city, county, and state politics.