Politics & Government

Shackamaxon Selling To NJ-based Management Firm

RDC, which owns three other clubs, will own and operate 100-year-old Scotch Plains landmark.

 in Scotch Plains will be sold to a New Jersey-based golf-management company, club president Rob Schwartz announced in a letter-to-the-editor emailed to Patch late Monday morning.

The sale was approved by members, but the deal will not be official until a formal contract is is approved. Once the deal is finalized, ownership will transfer from club members to the RDC Golf Group, Inc. According to the RDC website, the company presently owns Forsgate Country Club in Monroe Township in Middlesex County and  Tuscawilla Country Club in Winter Springs, Fla., as well as the Van Saun Tennis Center in Paramus. The company also operates Putnam National Golf Club, a public course owned by Putnam County, N.Y. 

 "I am pleased to report that we expect the nearly 100-year history of the property as a golf club and an important taxpaying citizen of the Town of Scotch Plains will continue," Schwartz wrote. 

Find out what's happening in Scotch Plains-Fanwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The announcement caps nearly two months of intense speculation regarding the  fate of the club and its 146-acre property, which went on the market in late December. The single largest tract of private land in Scotch Plains, it is zoned as a residential property, specifically R-1, which would allow a developer to build about 96 single-family homes there without any need for a variance – a matter of some concern to Scotch Plains Mayor Nancy Malool and members of the Township Council. 

"The important thing for us is to protect that property for the future of our residents," Malool said. "And by protect, I mean control what is developed there."

Find out what's happening in Scotch Plains-Fanwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

As she explained in a telephone interview Feb. 1, "A 100 single-family homes could yield 300 children in our already over-crowded school system. The correlating taxes wouldn't cover the cost of putting those kids in school, and certainly wouldn't cover our costs to maintain that area and provide services to that area when our budgets are shrinking."

Hence, at the Mayor and Township Council's regular monthly business meeting the evening of Feb. 1, Malool and council members  to direct the Planning Board to examine the viability of declaring the club "an area in need of redevelopment," which would grant the township greater control over what gets built at that property.  was relocating the Municipal Building,  and other township properties from the township's business district to a new municipal complex at Shackamaxon, thereby opening additional retail space in the heart of Scotch Plains' downtown area.

On Monday, Malool noted that while Shackamaxon's planned sale to RDC was good news for local golfers, it did not alleviate her and council members' shared reservations regarding later development. 

"I'm still concerned about what can happen in the future to that property," she said. "My concern is that whoever buys it is just looking to hold onto it for a little while and then develop it."

Malool noted that the Planning Board will still take-up the matter at a special meeting next Monday, Feb. 21. She added, however, that the council's direction to the Planning Board will likely be slightly adjusted: Rather than asking the Planning Board to study the feasibility of labeling Shackamaxon "a property in need of redevelopment," the Mayor and Council will vote at their monthly business meeting Tuesday whether to ask the Planning board to study the feasibility of labeling the property "an area in need of rehabilitation" – a measure that would grant the township fewer powers, but would ultimately provide it sufficient authority to determine what is built at the country club, Malool said. She added that she and the council had already been planning to vote on the change before they learned of Schwartz's announcement. 

Schwartz, reached by telephone Monday, stated that the sale was "unaffected by what Scotch Plains has done." He said that he expects the sale to be completed "before the start of the golf season," but declined to comment on the terms of the transaction or how RDC plans to reinvigorate the country club. RDC did not return calls placed to its headquarters in Monroe Township. 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here