Homeowners who live near the site to purchase it instead
This week, Sarasota County Administrator Jonathan Lewis publicly informed the county commissioners that the county’s planned purchase of the Forest Lakes Golf Course in Sarasota no longer will take place.
Instead, The Sarasota News Leader has learned, a group of Forest Lakes residents will become owners of the property.
During the board’s regular meeting on March 3, Lewis pointed out, “The seller is no longer a willing seller [to the county].”
He mentioned the news briefly during the commission’s Feb. 26 budget workshop, as well, referencing a memo that he had sent to the board members.
During their regular meeting on Jan. 27, the commissioners voted unanimously to direct Lewis to proceed with negotiations regarding the county’s purchase of the land, which also is known as The Palms Golf Course. That followed a presentation by county Stormwater Director Ben Quartermaine about his department’s proposal for transforming the land into a stormwater initiative.
The 75.7-acre site is located at 1990 S. Beneva Road in Sarasota.
Half-a-dozen residents who live in the Forest Lakes community expressed concerns during the public hearing that county staff was unaware of a covenant that runs with the golf course property. They stressed that the covenant imposes restrictions on the land’s use.
Connie Neeley, president of the Forest Lakes Country Club Estates Homeowners Association, said of the golf course, “This land is critical,” stressing to the commissioners, “It is the heart of a community that’s been in existence for 62 years. It’s not just about drainage.”
Quartermaine pointed out to the board that the area around the Forest Lakes Golf Course was developed before the county adopted its stormwater regulations, “So there’s really not much stormwater function in this area.” For example, he noted, it has few ponds to filter stormwater before it flows into Phillippi Creek. Thus, the water quality of the creek in the community is poor, Quartermaine indicated.
Staff had considered the potential of turning [the property] into stormwater ponds that would provide for flood protection moving forward,” he added, as well as improve the water quality.
In consideration of the residents’ remarks during the hearing, part of the board’s direction in its motion was for staff to provide regular updates to the affected residents as the stormwater project unfolded.
In his Feb. 23 memo to the commissioners about the change of plans, County Administrator Lewis pointed out that, on May 28, 2025, the owner of the golf course — Grosvenor Square Capital LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, the News Leader learned — had broached the idea of selling the land to the county for $2.2 million.
The website of Sarasota County Property Appraiser Bill Furst does not show how much the limited liability company paid for the land in 2014. The site does note that the 2025 market value of the property was $881,300. The site has 42,000 square feet of asphalt paving, 1,700 square feet of concrete paving and 105 parking spaces, the property record points out. Most of the land is in Flood Zones A and AE, the record says.
“Following subsequent negotiations and the completion of preliminary due diligence efforts,” Lewis continued in his memo, staff scheduled the Jan. 27 hearing for the commissioners. The $2.2-million price won full board approval that day. It was justified on the basis of appraisals, which are required by state law before a local government body purchases land.
Then, on Feb. 12, Lewis explained in the memo, “[T]he seller notified the County that they were considering an alternative offer and inquired about the process for submitting formal correspondence to the County in the event they elected to accept that offer and pursue termination of the existing contract.”
On Feb. 19, Lewis added, the seller did provide “formal written correspondence via email,” requesting that termination. Instead of selling the land to the county, the owner informed county staff that the land would be sold to “a group of neighboring property owners for the same purchase price” of $2.2 million.
“According to the seller,” Lewis continued, “the alternative contract contains fewer contingencies and provides for a shorter timeline to closing, which the seller considers more favorable than the current agreement with the County.”
Then Lewis explained, “After evaluating the seller’s request and the circumstances surrounding the transaction,” staff had determined that it was in the county’s best interest “to proceed with a mutual termination of the contract.”
Unless the commissioners gave him other direction, Lewis added, staff would handle the process administratively.
None of the board members offered comments on the issue during the March 3 meeting.
Lewis indicated that they did not need for them to vote on terminating the transaction, as their Jan. 27 motion gave him the authority to handle it.
He also noted in the memo that staff would update the Forest Lakes Homeowners Association (HOA) about the county decision.
A focus on ‘community continuity’
Following Lewis’ March 3 report, the News Leader contacted Neeley, the president of the Forest Lakes Country Club Estates Homeowners Association, asking whether she would like to offer any comments on the news.
“We have very active residents and have proactively dealt with numerous issues impacting our community,” she wrote in a statement she provided the News Leader on March 4. “We have pursued the flooding issues on Philippi Creek for which some of our residents suffered. We have also dealt with the disruption from [a] 4-yr long [sewer] Force Main project, as well as other public infrastructure issues throughout the neighborhood. It does not surprise me that a group of residents came together to provide community continuity.”
Neeley also offered details regarding the golf course covenant and residents’ efforts to buy the land themselves.
“In 2014,” she wrote, “Grosvenor Square Capitol LLC entered into an agreement with the HOA via a private Covenant and Restriction. This legal document, recorded in Official Record, states that the use of the land will be restricted to either a golf course, or as a narrowly defined open space. Additionally, the agreement runs with the land and is therefore binding to any future owner of the property.”
Then Neeley noted the county’s agreement with Grosvenor, “with the intent of possible purchase following a 150-day vetting period.” She further pointed to the plans “to convert the property from a golf course to a stormwater facility.”
Neeley next pointed out, “The HOA’s legal counsel advised that the County’s intended use of the land was not an accepted use as defined by the Covenant.
“The Covenant,” she wrote, “identifies a mechanism by which such alternative uses of the land can be evaluated, and potentially approved by Forest Lakes residents. The Covenant identifies approval by a 75% majority.
“Upon learning of the County’s intent,” she added, “the HOA shared this news with its residents.
“As the Covenant gives the residents input on the use of the property, the topic was addressed at a workshop immediately following the Annual HOA meeting. The workshop was an organized process to provide meaningful input and identify concerns. Residents identified 5 key areas of concern: Aesthetics; Maintenance; Property Values; increased exposure to dangerous wildlife; increased flooding and flood zone expansion,” Neeley pointed out.
“The lack of information or vision from the county regarding the project prompted speculation and additional concern,” she wrote.