GL Homes lowers winning bid for Boca Raton golf course

GL is offering $8M less than original bid after reevaluating costs to clean up the land

Boca Raton Municipal Golf Course
Boca Raton Municipal Golf Course

Sunrise-based GL Homes won the bid to buy the city of Boca Raton’s public golf course, but has scraped $8 million off its original $73 million offer, according to the Sun Sentinel.

The 194-acre Boca Raton Municipal Golf Course drew a number of interested developers, like Miami-based Lennar Corp. and Boca Raton-based Compson Boca Argent LLC.

GL is now offering $65 million after reevaluating the costs to clean up the land, according to its vice president Larry Portnoy. He told the city council on Tuesday GL learned more about the golf course, which was contaminated by fertilizer used on its grounds and two communication towers, according to the Sun Sentinel.

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City officials at one point had five offers for the 27-hole golf course. Lennar said it would keep its $73 million offer, so long as the city pays for environmental fixes and the costs to house its workers, according to the Sun Sentinel.

GL plans to build 580 homes on the site. The city could still back out of the deal and will negotiate a final price with GL in November, according to the Sun Sentinel.

In another proposal GL is looking to build houses in Palm Beach County’s Agricultural Reserve, a 22,000-acre farming zone west of Boynton Beach. GL said the company would donate $10 million and 105 acres of land for construction of a public high school and an elementary school, if approved. [Sun Sentinel]Amanda Rabines