I recently had an out-of-state client remark that he wasn’t sure he wanted to look at Desert Mountain Golf Club in North Scottsdale because he felt it was a “golf factory.” Since I am a member of Desert Mountain and have been for almost 15 years, I admit to being somewhat surprised by the comment.
However, when I gave it some thought, I can see where that perception could come from as Desert Mountain is a very large community. Someone who is a member of a smaller country club might consider it to be impersonal due to the vastness of the 8,000 acre complex. However, when you are a part of that community, you find that you meet many wonderful people, have access to six fabulous Jack Nicklaus courses, and the Club management insures that everyone is offered a multitude of opportunities to meet other members and partake of activities that aren’t related to golf.
With that said, it’s probably a good time to talk about the new member “takeover” at Desert Mountain that has been in the works almost from day one of the opening over twenty years ago. At that time, Lyle Anderson and his group had a vision of what Desert Mountain could become. Built into the original documents, it was always planned that the members would one day buy out the developer and investors and own the entire entity. That became reality in December of 2010.
The numbers are astounding. The final real estate transaction was $73.5 million for assets valued at almost a quarter of a billion dollars. The members raised close to $80 million dollars to facilitate the buyout to purchase all of the assets including common property, six Jack Nicklaus-designed golf courses, six clubhouses and their associated amenities and restaurants. In addition, the buy-out included all of the remaining real estate except for 37 lots retained by the developer, water rights, trademarks and logos.
Even though the real estate transaction was completed in 76 days, the planning took many years. Bob Jones, now the COO of Desert Mountain, was a leading force in management of the Club under the previous owners. The members and the Homeowners’ Association worked actively together for many years and developed an Advisory Board consisting of elected members to work consistently over the last few years. The goal was to insure the takeover by the members went smoothly and that the interests of all the members were protected. In addition, consultants were called in almost two years ago to evaluate many aspects of the purchase from a third-party perspective.
Desert Mountain now has 1,682 homes built in a community designed for 2,400 homes. Although many of the homes are still considered second homes to the residents, the trend is moving more and more toward full-time residents.
Originally, golf memberships were only available to residents and owners of lots at Desert Mountain. During the time the developers owned the property, the value of the golf deferred equity membership was on a sliding scale that topped out at $325,000. Most of the memberships transferred with the sale of property and buyers incurred a transfer fee of $65,000. Over the last few years, however, the Club has started to offer memberships for sale to those without property.
With the members taking over ownership of Desert Mountain, the golf memberships are now considered equity memberships and are priced at $140,000 for the full golf membership. Social memberships are still available for those not interested in a full golf membership.
So, would I call Desert Mountain big? Yes. Would I call it a factory? Only if you consider a beautiful community that offers access to six outstanding golf courses a factory.
If you are interested in more detailed information about Scottsdale’s Desert Mountain, simply give me a call or email me.
