Nelson golf course to be redesigned and run by U.S. company

Nelson’s golf course will be completely redesigned and rebuilt as part of a land deal between Granite Pointe Golf Club and a Vancouver housing developer.

Farhad Ebrahimi, CEO of Hallō Properties which bought 17.5 acres of land from Granite Pointe, says a combination of housing, related commercial ventures, and golf club redevelopment will amount to a $500-million project over 10-15 years.

Granite Pointe will still remain the owner of the golf course, but the sale of the land for housing came with a package deal that will see the redesign and future management of the course handed over to the golf course management company Troon, based in Arizona, and with the Canadian golf course architect Doug Carrick. 

“This will be a whole new golf course,” said Ebrahimi.

Ebrahimi described Troon as the largest golf club management company in the world, owned by Starwood Capital, an international Florida-based investment firm. Granite Pointe will be Troon’s first Canadian course. The company will also manage hotels, restaurants and all other commercial activities at the new housing development.

That development will see the construction of 306 housing units and two small hotels, as well as other commercial ventures, on the land that Hallō Nelson purchased from Granite Pointe.

The sale of the 17.5 acres for an undisclosed amount solved debt problems that had plagued the Granite Pointe Golf and Recreation Society. The club has since received $2.2 million from Hallō Properties, the first of at least two instalments.

Contacted later and asked if his company would have bought the property without the golf course as part of the package, Ebrahimi did not reply.

He said the golf course would continue working with the same employees, but they would be working under Troon’s management.

The reworking of the golf course will be a large project, he said.

“Most golf courses are not viable, economically speaking, but a Troon golf course can be. And the way you do that is you create a world class golf course.”

He said local golfers would pay lower fees than out-of-town guests.

“You take care of the locals, with the local rate, because those are the people who live in town. They come even on the off-season. They come to your restaurant, they come to the health club, the spa or entertainment. So that’s your base. And then, because you have a world class golf course, you also draw in destination tourism, which could pay full price.”

But local golfers would probably still pay higher fees than they do now, Ebrahimi said, because they will be getting a better golf experience.

He said the work on the golf course will begin in the spring of 2025.

At the request of the golf club, the City of Nelson rezoned the 17.5 acres in 2019 to allow housing that including a public hearing.

Construction of the first 24 townhouse units will take place in September and will take 14 months after the company applies to the City of Nelson for a building permit, according to Ebrahimi. He said each of the four-bedroom units will sell for $1.85 million.

He explained in an interview that the price is justified because of the quality of the units.

“They’re fully furnished and curated,” he said. “The linens and duvets are the same as the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Max … The fabric on the patio furniture is the commercial line of Sunbrella, only available in Europe … We’re bringing this in a very economic way, fully curated.”

Ebrahimi said he plans to move to one of those units himself and live in Nelson part time while keeping his house in Vancouver. The development will be called Hallō Nelson.

The rest of the development, to be built gradually over 10-15 years, will include smaller townhouses and apartments as well as two boutique hotels, a spa and a new clubhouse. There will also be a variety of restaurants, coffee shops and food businesses.

Nelson’s Cover Architecture has created the designs for the housing units, and will do the same for similar Hallō Properties projects in Revelstoke and the Sunshine Coast, Ebrahimi said.

Am Naqvi, president of the board of Granite Pointe, said he could not comment on the project until after their board meeting on July 24.

Why Nelson?

Ebrahimi said the first time he came to Nelson he was overwhelmed.

“I cannot believe this place exists, it’s so pristine and perfect, you can’t mess it up, because Nelson itself is the recipe. It’s magic as it is, where it is. So whatever we do needs to be in line with what Nelson already is, because that’s the magic.

“We want to take pristine, natural, supernatural British Columbia experiences, Canadiana, and complement it with a very high level of hospitality curation, food and beverage, but in a very authentic way, because we do not want to become Whistler, right? That’s the opposite of what we want.”

He said he intends to do community and charity work in Nelson, funding worthwhile local initiatives.

Advised that some Nelson residents might see his project as gentrification that leads to higher prices and erodes local culture, Ebrahimi said Nelson will never be overrun because it is remote and difficult to access.

“It’s very important to us that Nelson remains this cool, hip, Bohemian, yoga, meditation, arts and crafts, foodie culture. We love that and that’s the magic … Sure you’ll have some tourists. Great. That’s good for some economic growth.”

Ebrahimi said the company will pay a per-dwelling-unit contribution – he did not say how much – to the City of Nelson’s affordable housing fund. Granite Pointe had previously agreed to a contribution of $1,000 per unit.

Green building and the Official Community Plan

Nelson’s Official Community Plan, written in 2013 and being revised this year, encourages redevelopment of the golf course with a description quite similar to Hallō Nelson’s intentions: an approximate residential density of 300 units, a diversity of housing types, a commercial village centre, and energy efficient design.

The property would still have to be rezoned to allow for hotels and restaurants.

Asked about energy efficiency and green building standards, Ebrahimi said the housing project will meet or exceed Nelson’s current standards.

Those standards state that new buildings must meet Step 4 of the B.C. Energy Step Code, or Step 3 if they already meet the “strong” level of B.C.’s Zero Carbon Step Code.