The owner of the defunct Errol Estate golf course has offered to sell the property as is to the city for $6.3 million in cash, a figure based on the owner’s 2020 appraisal that was made public.
5th Hole Investments LLC, headed by the family of Julian (Larry) Klein, enclosed the proposal with a May 31 letter to Mayor Bryan Nelson and the Apopka City Council. The letter was copied and sent to city finance director Blanche Sherman regarding the property’s utility liens.
The golf course itself includes nearly 380 acres and 170 net usable acres, located west of Wekiwa Springs State Park and north of U.S. 441 in Apopka.
The as-is $6.3 million cash offer includes a proposal to pay two Errol Country Club utility liens with an outstanding balance of about $295,000 in the amount of $150,000 at the time of acquisition.
The letter mentioned the city’s $4.7 million acquisition of Camp Wewa to preserve the campsite for public use. Whereas Camp Wewa is about 70 acres, Errol has over five times the acreage at about 380 acres.
“The City, after purchasing the Errol property, could use, operate, lease, re-sell, and/or partition the property, for various public opportunities,” the letter states. “The [future land use]-residential acreage could be sold for development to recoup purchase costs. Non-usable land could be converted into perpetual conservation, which would drastically reduce maintenance expenses. Parks & Recreation opportunities could be achieved by either re-selling or transferring property directly to Errol HOAs, as opposed to any City-funded ventures.”
5th Hole’s proposal letter mentioned that the city once wanted the creation of a recreational taxing district.
“If the City wants public ownership of a large portion of the property, then the City should take on that ownership themselves in good faith,” the letter states. “We submit that the residents do not want to form a taxing district, however, the City could still pursue that goal as a potential public-to-public transaction.”
Calling the $6.3 million as-is cash offer a “fair” proposal, the letter states that 5th Hole reserves the right to illustrate that the property could fetch a higher value depending on the property’s development potential: “This offer alone does not constitute a perpetual exclusive hold on the property for the City’s consideration. The property may otherwise be sold to a third party at any time.”
On Monday, Apopka City Commissioner Velazquez said she was surprised at this turn of events and emailed city staff, including interim city administrator Radley Williams, Sherman, city clerk Susan Bone, and city attorney Cliff Shepard. She questioned the city’s interest in purchasing a private golf course.
“I don’t think the city has the money for that,” Velazquez said. “If we had $6.7 million for that property, then we should be fixing Golden Gem [water reclamation pond] because that’s what it’s going to probably take to fix Golden Gem and then some. And it’s a private golf course. I don’t understand why the city would even be interested in purchasing that.”
She said the city’s Camp Wewa purchase was a different matter because it benefits the community.
“It benefits the public because they can go use Camp Wewa,” Velazquez said. “They can rent Camp Wewa [as a venue]. We have camp for the kids. But buying a private golf course in a residential neighborhood? That’s more for a private developer to come in and buy that, not the city.”
Commissioner Nadia Anderson contacted city staff to better understand the existing agreement regarding the closed Errol Estate golf course. She said she was not aware of any recent discussions about the defunct golf course acquisition.
“There is some type of agreement that’s in place that I currently do not have a copy of, but once I actually see that agreement, I know there’s some type of stipulation agreement that took place prior to me being in office,” Anderson said.
The Apopka Chief has also contacted Mayor Bryan Nelson, Commissioner Alexander H. Smith and Commissioner Nick Nesta for comment on the proposal, although none has responded yet.
For many years, the Klein family faced an uphill battle in maintaining the golf course’s viability, to the point where the city stepped in to help with the property’s maintenance. Developers such as Celebration-based Signature H presented the golf course owner with proposals to save the golf course.
Julian (Larry) Klein, who died in 2018, was spending $50,000 to $60,000 a month on the golf course’s operational costs.
In 2018, Signature H proposed the New Errol concept, including a renovated golf course, a boutique hotel-lodge and a community water park, among the amenities. The proposal received City Council approval but never moved forward because 5th Hole Investments and Signature H dissolved their working relationship. Since then, the golf course, clubhouse and tennis courts closed and the clubhouse was torn down.
Last summer, 5th Hole Investments listed the former golf course at Errol Estate for $7.5 million through the Orlando commercial real estate firm Foundry Commercial.
In 2020, the Errol Estate Recreation District Advisory Committee met to seek options for a possible Errol Recreational District, but the plan didn’t gain traction.
The Apopka Chief and The Planter are weekly community newspapers, independently owned and family operated, that have served the greater Apopka area in Central Florida since 1923 and 1965 respectively.
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