Golf course developer backs out

Jeffrey Libby

Friday, Feb. 8, 2002 | 11:10 a.m.

Less than a week before formalizing an agreement to build and operate a $15.5 million golf course in Henderson, a Dallas-based developer has pulled out of the deal, raising questions as to whether a course can be built anytime soon on the sometimes brackish, low-lying land.

Henderson officials in September 2000 chose Evergreen Alliance Golf Limited -- from a field of seven candidates -- to build the city's first public golf course on city-owned land. But on Wednesday, Evergreen Alliance president and CEO Lawrence Corson contacted Henderson to inform the city of the company's decision.

"We found out at this late date that we weren't going to be able to get the financing. It's an unfortunate situation for everyone," Corson said today. "Word got out that Las Vegas is in a slump, after 9-11. And around the country the golf course construction market is saturated. There's just no financial capital for golf course development available."

Corson also said a shallow water table at the Whitney Ranch site north of Sunset Road is plagued by brackish water. This added more than $3 million to initial construction estimates. Devising a method to keep the salty water from leaching into turf and killing it had caused at least six months of delays, Corson said.

Corson questioned whether any private company would be able to build a course at the site given the complications -- a soft economy and a glut of new golf courses. He said banks are leery of investing in courses that aren't already under construction.

John Rinaldi, Henderson director of property management, said he was surprised by the news.

As recently as last week Evergreen officials were talking optimistically about completing the 204-acre, 18-hole course sometime in 2003, he said.

The phone call Wednesday changed all that.

"He (Corson) said there's been a shift in corporate strategy and that they're going to concentrate on management rather than development," Rinaldi said. "He said they're no longer funding golf course development."

As part of the proposed deal, the city would have leased Evergreen the land without a base rent for the first 10 years of operation, rather taking a percentage of profits. After 10 years the city would charge Evergreen a base rent of $250,000 a year, Rinaldi said.

A round of golf -- 18 holes -- would have been $50 for a Henderson resident. Several fairways would have flanked the Whitney Mesa bluff, with views of the entire eastern Las Vegas Valley.

But other fairways would have traversed some of the lowest ground in the Whitney Ranch area on soil plagued with a high salt content and a high water table caused by heavy run-off, much of it from residential lawns.

Rinaldi couldn't say Thursday whether the city will pursue development of a course on the land. "But I believe golf still remains our focus," Rinaldi said. "I can't imagine we're going to change courses now."

Evergreen Alliance was chosen by Las Vegas officials in November to manage a golf course currently under construction in the northwest. The council originally chose golf course developer Billy Walters over Evergreen because Evergreen's delays in building the Henderson course concerned some council members. But Walters ultimately withdrew his proposal.

Mark Vincent, Las Vegas city finance director, said today that the business decision in Henderson by Evergreen was a construction issue and would not affect the Las Vegas contract.