Property developer Arena REIT favoured to win tender for Warringah golf course land
A PROPERTY developer, which specialises in early learning centres, is frontrunner in a tender process to lease 62 hectares of publicly-owned land, which includes Warringah Golf Club.
Manly
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A PROPERTY developer has emerged as the frontrunner to take control of publicly-owned land which includes Warringah Golf Club.
At a closed session of Northern Beaches Council, publicly-listed Arena REIT was selected as the preferred tenderer to take control of the district park sporting precinct.
It is believed the tender - to lease the site long-term - was a joint bid with ClubLinks, the company which runs Moore Park golf course, however, it is not clear what role Warringah Golf Club would play.
Warringah Golf Club was a co-bidder with Next Generation gym and Tennis NSW which was the second preferred tenderer.
The minutes of the confidential councillor meeting said the council “declines to accept any of the tenders received” and instead enter negotiations with the preferred tenderer Arena REIT.
If those negotiations fail the council would attempt to negotiate with the second preferred tenderer.
“Council is progressing the vision for District Park as a fantastic new community recreation and sporting space including upgrading facilities for golf, tennis, futsal, squash and lawn bowls as well as a cafe and health services,” Mayor Michael Regan said.
“It’s great to be moving to the next stages of this exciting project which will transform the area into a state-of-the art sporting hub for the community.”
The tender process was put in place by former administrator Dick Persson.
The 62Ha site in Manly Vale includes extensive areas of open space which are divided by busy Condamine St and Pittwater Rd.
Along with the golf club it includes North Manly Bowling Club (Now Manly Leagues Club, North Manly), Warringah Recreation Centre, rugby league and futsal facilities.
The site has been mired in controversy since the Manly Daily revealed a plan by Mr Persson to replace either all, or half, of Warringah Golf Course with more sporting fields.
Almost every councillor elected in September last year had an election promise to retain 18-holes on Warringah golf course.
On Thursday Warringah Golf Club president Scott Campbell said it was difficult to grasp that they could not be managing the grounds for the first time in 86 years.
“There are indications that Arena will incorporate us in some shape, but the members feel a bit let down after 86 years of running the course,” he said.
“There was a great deal of disappointment when I sent around messages to all our members and also a great deal of concern for our staff, many of whom have been there for more than 20 years.”
Mr Campbell said their tender would have put $24m worth of capital and infrastructure on the site.
“Tennis was projecting a $1m inbound revenue for the community for tennis events they would hold,” he said. “They were going to be tournament-standard courts, about 12 of them, they were going to make it a centre of excellence.”
On its website Arena REIT is described as “an ASX300 listed group that owns, manages and develops specialised real estate assets across Australia”.
This would appear to be the company’s first venture into the sporting clubs, with its portfolio of 214 properties including 207 early learning centres and seven healthcare sites.
ClubLinks is a highly experienced golf and leisure service provider, managing facilities such as Moore Park Golf Club, the Commonwealth Golf Club and Sanctuary Lakes Golf Resort.
It is believed negotiations between the council and developer will begin this week on a solution which includes an 18 hole golf course as well as upgrades to squash, tennis and futsal facilities and an increase of around 300 parking spaces.
The council’s environment and infrastructure General Manager Ben Taylor said: “A rigorous tender process has been undertaken to find the best tenderer to deliver a facility that will transform the current space into a sporting hub.
“The lead tenderer came out significantly ahead of the competitors for their innovative use of the space, impressive upgrades for all existing sporting uses plus enhanced additional facilities such a cafe, minigolf and improved parking.
“The lead tendered also maximises value for rate payers and does not include poker machines as part of their business model.
“We continue negotiations and look forward to coming back to the community for further consultation on the designs for the area at the next stage of the project.”
Arena was approached but declined to comment.