"The new trend--bundle the course in with the HOA"
/Mary Shanklin in an Orlando Sentinel front page story (thanks reader Steve) looks at Orlando's ChampionsGate finally finishing a third course after the real-estate collapse and the future of such home-driven developments for companies like Lennar Homes.
Punctuated with white-sand bunkers, Bermuda grass and rolling panoramas, the course will initially open to public play but is intended to become private under the ownership of the homeowner association. Homebuyers have no initiation fees, which can be as pricey as a luxury car at other country-club courses. Renters in the resort-style community can purchase annual passes for as much as $3,500. Upkeep will be part of the monthly association fees, which now run about $300 to $350.
And...
Standing at the 14th hole at the new ChampionsGate course, community manager Mick Toscano said other courses have failed because members have been able to opt out of their memberships, leaving a big upkeep tab and too few members to pay it.
"This is going to be the new trend — bundle the course in with the HOA," said Toscana, regional manager for ICON Management Services Inc.
Oh dear...
