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The city of Rochester HIlls has purchased a 7-acre parcel of land next to Pine Trace Golf Club for a possible future expansion of the course.
Photo by Erin Sanchez
ROCHESTER HILLS — The Rochester Hills City Council has unanimously approved the purchase of a 7-acre parcel of land adjacent to Pine Trace Golf Club.
Joe Snyder, the city’s finance director, said the city negotiated the purchase agreement of the 7.09-acre parcel — located at 3308 South Boulevard West — for $1.8 million and plans to add it to the existing 193-acre, city-owned parcel, which is leased by Pine Trace Golf Course.
Pine Trace, Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan Barnett said, has been “a wonderful story” for the city for decades.
“The city owns the property and has a relationship with a group called Golf Concepts that runs the golf and the operations, and we get a portion of the gross revenue, which works out really well for the city,” Barnett said.
The city, he explained, is always looking at land adjacent to parks or city property to potentially purchase.
“In this particular case, some property immediately adjacent to the golf course became available, and we’ve always talked about the golf course in long terms. We want it to be a part of our parks offerings forever,” Barnett said.
Although the city doesn’t have any immediate plans for the land, Barnett said the city would likely use it to expand and improve the Pine Trace Golf Course amenities.
“Picking up 7 acres next to the course gives us the ability to, perhaps, in the future, expand the clubhouse, move some holes around and move approved parking. It just gives us some breathing room and some long-term flexibility to keep the course vibrant,” he explained. “The clubhouse is pretty small there. It’s pretty limited in what it can do and how it can service the community, so certainly, in the future, we think there will be some good opportunities to enhance the golf course moving forward. There isn’t anything immediate, it was just kind of fortuitous that the property became available.”
Rochester Hills City Councilman David Walker said the move is a great example of the city’s fiscal responsibility and structural surplus, so that when these types of opportunities present themselves, the city has the means and the desire to get them done.
“The synergies of this property are unique in that it’s a contiguous parcel to Pine Trace, the greater Pine Trace property, and we have a wonderful working relationship with that organization, where they’re running the operations on that course and we own the land,” he said. “So to expand that footprint, to give that an opportunity to perhaps augment or improve the amenities over there is a win-win-win all the way around. I’m very excited about this opportunity.”
Rochester Hills City Councilwoman Carol Morlan agreed.
“I think it is just a wonderful opportunity … to develop this little area to put it together with the area that we already have with Pine Trace and to just offer some additional opportunities that will lie in wait on this for our residents for Rochester Hills,” said Morlan.
Pine Trace, located at 3600 Pine Trace Blvd. in Rochester Hills, includes an 18-hole Arthur Hills-designed golf course, a full-service driving range, a practice center and a turn grill. For more information, visit pinetrace.com or call (248) 852-7100.
