The Golf Course Is Under Contract
Proposed Development for Closed Golf Course
There is a proposal to develop the center of the closed Hidden Hills golf course and keep all the links as passive recreation and greenspace. This is the vision the community described in the Hidden Hills Overlay Zoning Code passed in 2011. The course closed in 2006.
Here is a brief update on the proposed development of 480 apartments and townhomes on the center 50 acres where the old clubhouse, tennis courts, and driving range used to be. This area is known as Tier 5 in the Hidden Hills Overlay Code. The code allows higher density development as long as the greenspace is preserved. This proposal is a lower density than what is allowed.
The development plans are being reviewed by various county departments, and revisions have been and will continue to be made. This link is the most current rendering of the proposal. To comply with the zoning code, the development must include a mixed-use component, and to that end, it is offering a 3,000-square-foot community clubhouse and pool for use by civic association members and greenspace amenities for the public.
The rest of the acreage – about 130 acres of greenspace where the old golf links used to be – would be conserved for passive recreation or protected and undeveloped. The developers’ idea is to give that land to a non-profit corporation such as the Greater Hidden Hills Community Development Corporation (GHHCDC), and the non-profit would give it to DeKalb County Parks. The golf trails would be the foundation for 5-6-mile-long walking and biking trail that winds like a figure eight through the community. The Parks Department is enthusiastic about adding the greenbelt to the park system.
McKinley Homes enlisted a landscape engineering firm to show what that greenbelt could look like. You may see the document at this link. The company has committed to reclaiming the golf cart path from the development to Biffle Road on both sides.
The developers are:
Marty Orr, CEO of Prime Interest Development
Bill Schmidt, vice president, McKinley Homes https://www.mckinleyhomes.com/about-mckinley-homes/
We do not know how long the review and revision process will take. Of course, the developers want to move as quickly as possible. Rod Frierson, the president of the Hidden Hills Civic Association, Jan Costello, the president of GHHCDC, and the respective board of directors are keeping a close watch and will continue to keep the neighborhood informed. Already, both organizations have discussed and shown the plans at regularly scheduled public meetings.
Eventually, the plan will go before the Planning Commission for approval, and then to the Board of Commissioners.
There is a proposal to develop the center of the closed Hidden Hills golf course and keep all the links as passive recreation and greenspace. This is the vision the community described in the Hidden Hills Overlay Zoning Code passed in 2011. The course closed in 2006.
Here is a brief update on the proposed development of 480 apartments and townhomes on the center 50 acres where the old clubhouse, tennis courts, and driving range used to be. This area is known as Tier 5 in the Hidden Hills Overlay Code. The code allows higher density development as long as the greenspace is preserved. This proposal is a lower density than what is allowed.
The development plans are being reviewed by various county departments, and revisions have been and will continue to be made. This link is the most current rendering of the proposal. To comply with the zoning code, the development must include a mixed-use component, and to that end, it is offering a 3,000-square-foot community clubhouse and pool for use by civic association members and greenspace amenities for the public.
The rest of the acreage – about 130 acres of greenspace where the old golf links used to be – would be conserved for passive recreation or protected and undeveloped. The developers’ idea is to give that land to a non-profit corporation such as the Greater Hidden Hills Community Development Corporation (GHHCDC), and the non-profit would give it to DeKalb County Parks. The golf trails would be the foundation for 5-6-mile-long walking and biking trail that winds like a figure eight through the community. The Parks Department is enthusiastic about adding the greenbelt to the park system.
McKinley Homes enlisted a landscape engineering firm to show what that greenbelt could look like. You may see the document at this link. The company has committed to reclaiming the golf cart path from the development to Biffle Road on both sides.
The developers are:
Marty Orr, CEO of Prime Interest Development
Bill Schmidt, vice president, McKinley Homes https://www.mckinleyhomes.com/about-mckinley-homes/
We do not know how long the review and revision process will take. Of course, the developers want to move as quickly as possible. Rod Frierson, the president of the Hidden Hills Civic Association, Jan Costello, the president of GHHCDC, and the respective board of directors are keeping a close watch and will continue to keep the neighborhood informed. Already, both organizations have discussed and shown the plans at regularly scheduled public meetings.
Eventually, the plan will go before the Planning Commission for approval, and then to the Board of Commissioners.
We're all very excited and looking forward to the great things to follow!