U.S. Assets Group News
GOING UP/The Founders Club
02/15/2004
Sarasota Herald-Tribune (FL)
February 15, 2004
Section: SUNDAY REAL ESTATE
Page: I1
DOROTHY STOCKBRIDGE-PRATT dorothy.pratt@heraldtribune.com
Edinburgh-born John Hamilton Gillespie brought golf to Sarasota when he built two holes behind his home in the late 1880s. By 1904, Gillespie had founded a nine-hole course and clubhouse just west of today's county courthouse. The Founders Club, a new golf course surrounded by 262 home sites, will pay tribute to six-term Sarasota mayor Gillespie and to Sarasota's claim of having the first golf course in America. It will be the first new course permitted in north Sarasota County in 10 years -- and perhaps the last, given the county's restrictive development policies. Tom Brown and Jay Tallman, of U.S. Assets Group, and Fred Starling have spent four and a half years on the plans and permitting. Pre-sales will open March 1. "It will give Sarasota a truly private, first-class golf course," Brown said. "It will be a very traditional club, and, with the core layout, players will never cross a road." The developers aren't worried that two major golf-course projects have just been announced in eastern Manatee County. One will be for hotel guests at The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota, residents of The Ritz-Carlton's condominiums, the Tower Residences and the Beach Residences, and some private members. The other is The Concession, to be designed by Jack Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin, with $75,000 equity memberships. That's the cost of equity memberships at The Founders Club. "Our club will be in Sarasota, just three miles east of the Interstate," Brown said. "Naples has 25 clubs with nearly 10,000 members who paid $75,000 to $260,000 to join. We know buyers who went to Naples because Sarasota does not have one club of this caliber." Brown says that Robert Trent Jones Jr., designer of more than 200 courses (many with his father), has sculpted a dramatic course with existing old oaks as a backdrop. The course is already under construction on more than 200 acres, with completion expected by the end of the year. Builders will begin construction of models and inventory homes in April. Some 200 of the 262 homes will be on the golf course, but set back. This is the first single-family project for Brown and Tallman, who built en Provence on Longboat Key, Beau Ciel on the bayfront and have just broken ground for Orchid Beach Club on Lido Beach. En Provence sold out in record time. They have sold 40 of 44 units at Beau Ciel and 38 of 54 at Orchid Beach Club. At The Founders Club, Brown sees "a tremendous pent-up demand." John Cannon, Pruett Builders, Todd Johnston and Marc Rutenberg will build the 108 estate homes on sites of 130 to 160 by 200 feet. Johnston and Pruett also have 43 sites of 100 to 110 by 200 feet. Lee Wetherington has 39 sites of 90 to 100 by 200 feet. Taylor Woodrow will build 39 golf cottages near the club on 80- by 200-foot sites and 20 homes on 120- by 200-foot lake sites. Buyers will choose their sites that, in most cases, are already owned by one of the builders. Buyers must put in a landscape buffer within six months and begin construction within two years. "It's an absolutely gorgeous site, and the club will be understated," Brown said. The club, designed by Fleischman Garcia of Tampa, will be low-country style with 17,000 square feet plus large porches. It will have dining and lounge facilities and a fitness center. Tennis courts, a community recreation building, playground, a picnic gazebo and volleyball courts will be near the gated entrance. Along Fruitville Road, The Founders Club will have a berm and natural-looking landscaping rather than a wall. The perimeter also will be buffered. Each buyer will be required to put in heavy landscaping at the front and side of every home to give the feeling of an estate. Reclaimed water from the treatment plant will be stored in two lakes for watering. The club will have 90 acres in lakes. Back yards will have low buffers in native plants as transitions to the golf course. At a glance What: 262 home sites around a Robert Trent Jones Jr. golf course off Fruitville Road, three miles east of Interstate 75, Sarasota. Prices: Home sites from the high $100,000s to more than $600,000; home-lot packages from the $600,000s. Home sites will be 80 to 160 by 200 feet. Amenities: 18-hole "core" golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr.; traditional clubhouse, fitness center, tennis and recreation center. Developer: Tom Brown and Jay Tallman of U.S. Assets Group and Fred M. Starling Inc. Builders: John Cannon Homes, Lee Wetherington Homes, Todd Johnston Homes, Pruett Builders, Marc Rutenberg Homes, Taylor Woodrow Homes. Information: Sales center opens March 1 at Gateway office building at the northwest quadrant of Fruitville and I-75. Phone (941) 378-0900.
GOING UP/The Founders Club, Sarasota
February 15, 2004
Section: SUNDAY REAL ESTATE
Page: I1
DOROTHY STOCKBRIDGE-PRATT dorothy.pratt@heraldtribune.com
Edinburgh-born John Hamilton Gillespie brought golf to Sarasota when he built two holes behind his home in the late 1880s. By 1904, Gillespie had founded a nine-hole course and clubhouse just west of today's county courthouse. The Founders Club, a new golf course surrounded by 262 home sites, will pay tribute to six-term Sarasota mayor Gillespie and to Sarasota's claim of having the first golf course in America. It will be the first new course permitted in north Sarasota County in 10 years -- and perhaps the last, given the county's restrictive development policies. Tom Brown and Jay Tallman, of U.S. Assets Group, and Fred Starling have spent four and a half years on the plans and permitting. Pre-sales will open March 1. "It will give Sarasota a truly private, first-class golf course," Brown said. "It will be a very traditional club, and, with the core layout, players will never cross a road." The developers aren't worried that two major golf-course projects have just been announced in eastern Manatee County. One will be for hotel guests at The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota, residents of The Ritz-Carlton's condominiums, the Tower Residences and the Beach Residences, and some private members. The other is The Concession, to be designed by Jack Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin, with $75,000 equity memberships. That's the cost of equity memberships at The Founders Club. "Our club will be in Sarasota, just three miles east of the Interstate," Brown said. "Naples has 25 clubs with nearly 10,000 members who paid $75,000 to $260,000 to join. We know buyers who went to Naples because Sarasota does not have one club of this caliber." Brown says that Robert Trent Jones Jr., designer of more than 200 courses (many with his father), has sculpted a dramatic course with existing old oaks as a backdrop. The course is already under construction on more than 200 acres, with completion expected by the end of the year. Builders will begin construction of models and inventory homes in April. Some 200 of the 262 homes will be on the golf course, but set back. This is the first single-family project for Brown and Tallman, who built en Provence on Longboat Key, Beau Ciel on the bayfront and have just broken ground for Orchid Beach Club on Lido Beach. En Provence sold out in record time. They have sold 40 of 44 units at Beau Ciel and 38 of 54 at Orchid Beach Club. At The Founders Club, Brown sees "a tremendous pent-up demand." John Cannon, Pruett Builders, Todd Johnston and Marc Rutenberg will build the 108 estate homes on sites of 130 to 160 by 200 feet. Johnston and Pruett also have 43 sites of 100 to 110 by 200 feet. Lee Wetherington has 39 sites of 90 to 100 by 200 feet. Taylor Woodrow will build 39 golf cottages near the club on 80- by 200-foot sites and 20 homes on 120- by 200-foot lake sites. Buyers will choose their sites that, in most cases, are already owned by one of the builders. Buyers must put in a landscape buffer within six months and begin construction within two years. "It's an absolutely gorgeous site, and the club will be understated," Brown said. The club, designed by Fleischman Garcia of Tampa, will be low-country style with 17,000 square feet plus large porches. It will have dining and lounge facilities and a fitness center. Tennis courts, a community recreation building, playground, a picnic gazebo and volleyball courts will be near the gated entrance. Along Fruitville Road, The Founders Club will have a berm and natural-looking landscaping rather than a wall. The perimeter also will be buffered. Each buyer will be required to put in heavy landscaping at the front and side of every home to give the feeling of an estate. Reclaimed water from the treatment plant will be stored in two lakes for watering. The club will have 90 acres in lakes. Back yards will have low buffers in native plants as transitions to the golf course. At a glance What: 262 home sites around a Robert Trent Jones Jr. golf course off Fruitville Road, three miles east of Interstate 75, Sarasota. Prices: Home sites from the high $100,000s to more than $600,000; home-lot packages from the $600,000s. Home sites will be 80 to 160 by 200 feet. Amenities: 18-hole "core" golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr.; traditional clubhouse, fitness center, tennis and recreation center. Developer: Tom Brown and Jay Tallman of U.S. Assets Group and Fred M. Starling Inc. Builders: John Cannon Homes, Lee Wetherington Homes, Todd Johnston Homes, Pruett Builders, Marc Rutenberg Homes, Taylor Woodrow Homes. Information: Sales center opens March 1 at Gateway office building at the northwest quadrant of Fruitville and I-75. Phone (941) 378-0900.
