Owners set new course for Rosedale

When Chris Schaeffer looks at the Rosedale Golf and Country Club, he sees great potential. So much, in fact, he’s casting a new vision for the club’s future.

CH6, an investor group composed of executives of Naples-based Coral Hospitality and various fund and individual partners, purchased the club and its amenities Oct. 1, making it the fourth in a portfolio of about 25 to 40 clubs the entity hopes to acquire from Tampa to Naples in the coming years.

Schaeffer, managing partner of CH6, already is working to turn Rosedale into the premier club in the area. On Oct. 2, he shared with club members and residents plans for $1 million in improvements over the next year, as well as a new management team and a membership structure that generally reduces dues.

“It’s a fine example of a lifestyle community,” said Schaeffer, who first saw the property about three months ago. “We started to look at the club, and we saw opportunity for growth. We thought with restructuring membership opportunities and marketing opportunities, we could create great value for the area.”

Schaeffer said Coral Hospitality intends to convert the Rosedale Golf and Country Club from a semi-private club with outside play to one that is completely private. The endeavor, he said, likely will take between two and five years, and Rosedale will maintain its semi-private status until then, using outside play and other opportunities as a way to attract new members.

He hopes to have between 350 and 450 full club memberships, compared with the current total of about 140, in addition to social, tennis and associate memberships.

Rosedale, as it exists today, has about 660 homes and more growth is coming, with another 450 homes in the Links at Rosedale currently under construction. (Homes in the Links are required to at least have social memberships to the club.)

“In the case of Rosedale, it is really set up to be a private membership club within a gated community,” he said. “I think we can operate an incredible facility.”

Armed with a $150 million purse for purchasing and improving properties, CH6 plans to invest at least $1 million at Rosedale in facility improvements, including clubhouse renovations, new equipment in the fitness center and new furniture at the pool area, during its first year of ownership. Prior to the golf season, it will add outside dining options with a patio and fire pits outside, creating a venue for happy hours, movie nights and other social activities.

Residents are waiting to see if the improvements will come to fruition.

“When the club was new, people came here for cocktail hour all the time,” said Jo Weidenhammer, a 10-year resident and member. “Nobody comes up here for dinner any more. We’ve all been a little disgruntled. It’s going to be absolutely wonderful.”

Her friend Jackie Demerly, agreed.

“I can hardly wait until it’s all finished,” she said of the facility improvements. “It’ll be much better, a much more social environment.”

Coral Hospitality also plans to continue the efforts of the previous owner, Newton Developments, to open sight lines and playability on the golf course by removing trees and bushes to open the course more.

Contact Pam Eubanks at
[email protected].