Lakewood’s RedTail Golf Club project grows in scope, estimated cost

Lakewood is set to enter negotiations with a construction firm for upgrades to its village-owned RedTail Golf Club, which estimates show costing just under $4 million.

At the village’s board meeting on Tuesday, trustees approved the village entering into an agreement with Aurora-based Laub Construction to begin hammering out details on the buildout of the golf club.

The approval does not mean the price or the agreement is final. Instead, officials at the meeting clarified it was just to allow the village to enter into negotiations.

Originally, the project was expected to cost just under $2 million and include the buildout of a 6,000-square-foot clubhouse, along with a small halfway house between holes 9 and 10.

The scope of the project, however, has changed since last fall, and now includes a golf cart pavilion as part of the halfway house, totaling 4,500 square feet and costing just under $800,000, and a potential rebuild of the club’s maintenance barn at more than $1.1 million for 8,000 square-feet, according to the bid estimates.

Whether the barn will rebuilt has not yet been decided, Village President Dave Stavropoulos said Thursday. The building is old and will need heavy work to be brought up to code.

Those new additions could bring the cost of construction up to almost $4 million on a project that residents have been skeptical of due to concerns about having to eventually foot the bill.

Dating back to last year, trustees have long said they want the golf club to support itself and its upgrades, instead of putting the costs on its residents.

The message was similar on Tuesday, as officials broke down new revenue streams to be included at RedTail and projections for new money coming in to offset the costs.

Some of those sources include raised rates at the course, which the village has done in back-to-back years, as well as increased revenue from food and drink sales and events, Stavropoulos said.

All told, the village thinks the club could bring in roughly $279,000 per year – what officials considered a conservative estimate – which would be more than enough to pay what they expect to be a $223,000 mortgage.

In financial reports of the facility since 2016-17, RedTail has achieved net revenue that high only in 2020-21, when it made almost $284,000. In the years since, that number has been below $200,000.

Records show the facility makes consistent money during the spring and summer months but loses money from November to April.

The goal is for the new revenue streams to be year-round money makers, Stavropoulos said.

Lakewood also plans to set aside $300,000 for reserves, which will come out of the village’s park impact fund, for the golf course during slower seasons, Stavropoulos said.

The lowest bidder that met the village’s requirements, Laub came in at just under $4 million, according to village documents. The other bids considered came in at above $9 million. One bid came in at just under $3.5 million but did not include building excavation and concrete work.

I have no desire to burden residents or myself with these costs. But we need to do something here.

—  Lakewood Village President Dave Stavropoulos on the new RedTail Gold Club project

The current facility was built in 1991 and was expected to be temporary and last for 15 years.

That facility has now gone beyond 30 years, leaving the village to decide whether to do nothing, sell it, repair it or replace it completely, Stavropoulos said.

Looking ahead, Lakewood will begin working with Laub to finalize any details and figure out what the final price tag might be. If final numbers come back higher than currently approved, the village could take a step back and figure out another path forward.

The hope is to have something formalized in May.

On Thursday, Stavropoulos stopped short of guaranteeing residents wouldn’t eventually be on the hook for this but said the village is implementing many safeguards to make the prospect of that as unlikely as possible.

“It’s always a goal to keep taxpayers from having to foot the bill,” Stavropoulos said. “I have no desire to burden residents or myself with these costs. But we need to do something here.”