County Takes Next Step in WGV Redevelopment

Economic development can be an incremental process and the devil can be in the details. For St. Johns County, the effort to redevelop the World Golf Village property is a prime example.

County commissioners recently directed staff to prepare a Request for Qualifications to solicit interest from developers in the property, according to a media release. With the Commission’s earlier approval of strategic recommendations, redevelopment proposals will be based on community input collected by the county through a survey.

According to the release, the next steps in the process include defining the site vision, concept, and goals, utilizing the findings from resident feedback; establish selection criteria; develop and publish the RFQ in October 2024; conduct independent financial feasibility analysis of submitted proposals; and select a development partner with a goal of the first quarter of 2025.

In April the commissioners approved the purchase of all World Golf Foundation assets for $5.5 million including the Tour Production Building, WGV Parking, and WGV common space. This adds to the county’s ownership of the Hall of Fame, IMAX Theater, and the grounds of the World Golf Village Renaissance St. Augustine Resort Convention Center and Hotel, the release states.

The properties include the World Golf Hall of Fame: a 64,113 square-foot multi-purpose facility; World Golf Hall of Fame IMAX Theater: a 17,865-square-foot movie theater; GA Tour Productions: a 32,329 square-foot Class-A office building; and South Legacy Trail, 36.07 acres of parking lots, rights-of-way areas, landscaping, and lakes.

In June 2023, the World Golf Foundation notified St. Johns County of its intention to move the World Golf Hall of Fame and the World Golf Hall of Fame IMAX theater out of the World Golf Village and to relocate the PGA Tour Productions to a new building on the Global Home Campus the release stated.