Former SoCal Golf Course to Become Mixed-Use Development

Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.—Empire Lakes Holding Co. LLC, a member of The Lewis Group of Companies, has acquired the shuttered Empire Lakes Golf Course at 11015 6th Street in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., for an unspecified price. The buyer plans to plans to repurpose the golf course into a mixed-use residential and commercial property.

Ken Arimitsu, PMRG’s senior vice president of golf course and land sales, represented the seller, Park Global Inc. The buyer was represented by Gary Arendts of Chaparral Land Co., which specializes in residential land brokerage.

The redevelopment will include as many as 3,450 residential units and 220,000 square feet of commercial space. The Rancho Cucamonga Metrolink station is about 15 minutes by foot from the site.

“With the current land shortage in Southern California, under-performing golf courses provide developers an opportunity to secure a large amount of land needed for a large-scale development,” noted Arimitsu. The former golf course measures about 160 acres.

Golf isn’t quite the game it used to be, with a number of golf courses closing nationwide in recent years because of the recession (the game takes a commitment of money and perhaps more importantly, time) and less overall interest in the game. According to the National Golf Foundation, total U.S. golfers have slipped from 25.7 million in 2011 to 24.1 million in 2015.