FORT WORTH, Texas — This article was originally published by our content partners at the Dallas Business Journal. You can read the original article here.
A real estate group that bought an old, nearly 150-acre country club in Fort Worth is starting to reveal plans for what redevelopment could look like on the property. That might include a new community center, residential, office, an urban farm and, if all goes well, a nine-hole golf course.
Fort Worth-based Crescendo Development bought the Woodhaven Country Club in east Fort Worth via a $8.5 million credit bid during a foreclosure auction in May. Now, the group is presenting conceptual plans of what the country club could become to the area's neighbors as it moves the project to the city's zoning commission in November.
Woodhaven Country Club was built in the 1970s and was known to be an epicenter of meetings and banquets until it shut down in 2022.
Will Northern, a former Fort Worth zoning commission chair and owner of Crescendo Development, emphasized during a neighborhood meeting Oct. 29 that the plans were conceptual and could change. Ultimately, Crescendo is aiming to rezone the property and then sell the land to a developer, he said. Crescendo has held several community meetings since acquiring the property to receive feedback on what neighbors want from the development. The company has not yet identified a developer that could buy the property.
"This is one of what could be 1,000 iterations of what a land development could be, what actually would come out of the ground," he told an audience during a presentation.
On the west side of the property, Northern said there's potential for a new community center and park area that connects to Quanah Parker Park and the Trinity Trail, along with residential such as townhomes and duplexes. In the central portion of the property, there's potential for a redesigned clubhouse with "active space" that could be turned into a dog park, public park, restaurant, pickleball or tennis court.
The area could also see office and retail, mixed-use with hospitality or residential and an urban farm. Northern said finding a developer to reactivate the historic clubhouse built in the 1970s and spaces that can drive traffic to the area is important. The mixed-use portion will play an important part of bringing traffic back to the area.
"During the day, everyone just leaves, and there's no economic engine going on," Northern said. "There's nothing happening. So by providing a space that there can be some daytime commerce that helps serve as a catalyst."
Northern said he wants to keep golf in the area, but finding a golf operator and developer interested in the property will be key. During the presentation, Northern said his group has reached out to 25 golf course developers and management companies. So far, Illinois-based KemperSports, which manages Timberlinks Golf Course in Denton, has expressed interest, he said, but nothing is confirmed.
Crescendo plans to submit requests to rezone the property to include a mix of single-family, urban residential and low-density mixed-use to Fort Worth's zoning commission in November. Currently, the east half of the property is zoned A5 single-family and CF (community facility) on the west. The company anticipates a zoning vote by Fort Worth's city council by early 2025.
In the meantime, the Crescendo Development team is working on improvements to the property, such as bringing water pumps back online and treating stagnant ponds, according to the company's recent newsletter.
In addition to Woodhaven Country Club, Crescendo also manages three vacant commercial tracts at 6500 and 6604 Randol Mill Road and 265 Bridgewood Drive.
