When Walden Lake, LLC purchased the approximately 425 acres of the Walden Lake Golf Course, the developers made a surprising announcement that they would be placing the fate of the land in the hands of the current residents.
Three men make up the LLC and, between them, their experience has covered the development of multi-family and residential communities, hotel properties, office spaces and more. When they sat down with interested community members in April, they told them they would want in-depth feedback on how to go forward.
The survey is now officially live on waldenlake.org and all residents of Walden Lake are invited to study the proposed options and make their choice on what they hope to see for the future of the community.
Carmine Zayoun, co-partner of Walden Lake, LLC said during the April meeting they’ve dealt with sensitive communities in some of their other projects and understand they need the backing of the current residents to have a successful development. In order to do so, they’ve partnered with the Walden Lake Community Association to present a variety of options to the public and go from there.
“I’m giving the power to the residents,” Zayoun said in the meeting. “You guys have got to help us out. We’ll do what the majority wants and you guys have to help us do what we want, but it will be a win-win for both of us.”
An announcement of the survey said the developer has discussed the possibility of 1,500 to 1,600 mixed-use, three-story residential units that will be located near the old clubhouse and driving range on Clubhouse Drive with an additional in-fill development of approximately 100 to 150 additional single-family homes throughout parts of the golf course.
There are three options floated on the survey, though the intention of the website is to represent possibilities and not set-in-stone plans. The options are preliminary and conceptual in nature, not necessarily the final product.
Basically, the three options come down to simple questions. Do Walden Lake residents really want a golf course? If so, are they prepared to pay for the upkeep?
While the developer will build it, they have no desire to keep it running. The company has mentioned the possibility of building 18 holes if asked and create green space for the other remaining space.
Would residents rather have green space? If so, where do they want that green space to be? What other amenities are important to the community? What should the focus of the developers be?
As for development, do they want to go with the floated plan of having it mainly around the current clubhouse and throughout the old golf course or would they be willing to discuss shuffling the WLCA land that used to hold the polo fields and now is home to the dog park, ballparks and HOA offices into the deck?
If that option is preferred, there would be reduced traffic issues since it’s located right by main roads, there would be a minimal visual impact on homeowners’ back yards and it opens up opportunities to keep either the golf course or more green space.
They ask that residents truly study each option and all it entails before voting. Once all surveys have been completed, the LLC will take the suggestions into consideration for their next steps and begin meeting with the city for a traffic analysis and to get ecological and storm water studies completed.
