PulteGroup closes on Hollywood golf course it’s eyeing for redevelopment: $25M

UPDATED June 23 11:18 p.m.: Right on schedule, PulteGroup, the nation’s third-largest homebuilding company, has completed its $25 million purchase of the Hollywood golf course it needs for a sizable new housing development.

County records show Pulte, headquartered in Atlanta, bought more than 150 acres of land from the Hillcrest Golf & Country Club located at 4600 Hillcrest Drive. The deal includes Hillcrest’s 18-hole golf course, its smaller nine-hole executive golf course, clubhouse facilities, tennis courts and a pair of easements.

The deal was set up by developer Concord Wilshire, which itself had placed the land under contract more than two years ago with plans to turn it over to another developer on the contingency that Hollywood officials approved development plans. The city commission unanimously approved the plans in May, and Concord is now out of the project.

Pulte had announced in late May that it expected to close on the purchase June 21 and break ground on its development a month later. The company will now move forward with its plans to build a mix of 645 single-family homes and townhouses on the golf course lands.

The first component will be a gated community built on the 18-hole course, consisting of 256 townhouses and 238 single-family holes. For the executive course, Pulte plans to build a second gated community with 84 townhouses and 67 single-family homes.

Hollywood’s city commission unanimously approved the plans in May.

Hillcrest is a combination golf course and condominium development built in 1960 by Ben Tobin. The greens where Pulte plans to build its two communities are surrounded by residential buildings sized between five and 12 stories.

This isn’t the first time Pulte has bought a sports club as a development play. The homebuilder paid $49 million for the Gulfstream Polo Club in May, where it’s planning a community of nearly 1,000 new residences.