Hoylake’s £200m Jack Nicklaus golf course set for 2020 opening

A two-course golf resort including a hotel and spa in Hoylake has taken a step forward after developer Nicklaus Joint Venture Group submitted a funding and phasing plan to Wirral Council, outlining potential timescales for the project.

Wirral Council and NJVG signed a development agreement for the scheme in November 2016, with the council spending £600,000 on geotechnical reports and surveys in support, and NJVG has now outlined how it plans to bring forward the £200m proposals.

It will include a championship golf course, an 18-hole municipal course, a golf academy and practice range, alongside a Celtic Manor-branded 90-bed hotel, which will have associated conference facilities and a spa.

Around 40 apartments will be built next to the hotel, while elsewhere on the site, Story Homes plans to build 160 houses.

The scheme has a gross development value of £200m.

According to the funding and phasing plan prepared by consultant Grant Thornton, the planning process will begin in February next year, with consent determined by June 2019.

Ahead of the planning application submission date, the council plans to launch another round of public consultation on the project’s detailed design. An initial consultation on the proposals was carried out in 2015.

Construction of the first homes on the site will start in December 2019, followed by the course and its facilities opening on a phased basis.

The municipal course is earmarked for a January 2020 opening, followed by the hotel in March 2020, and the championship course opening in April 2021.

The housing on the site, led by Story Homes, will be delivered between 2019 and 2027. All of the construction contracts for the golf courses, hotel, and associated facilities are to be handled by NJVG.

Overall, the development is expected to create 175 jobs once complete, as well as 168 jobs during the construction phase.

It is expected that NJVG will spend around £1.5m to prepare the planning application, which will include “extensive surveys and detailed designs,” according to council documents.

The council added it would not be allocating any additional money to the project, aside from the £600,000 already committed in November 2016.

Leader of Wirral Council, Cllr Phil Davies, said: “The Hoylake Golf Resort will be a flagship development which will create hundreds of jobs for local people and support businesses across the borough. As a globally-significant tourism and leisure attraction, it will support growth in our vibrant tourism economy and attract thousands of additional visitors to Wirral every year.

“Working with partners with the expertise and reputation of Celtic Manor, arguably the strongest brand in golf hospitality today, and north-west based Story Homes means we are confident we will deliver a resort of the highest possible quality.

“This is another example of Wirral Council being commercial, ambitious and innovative. By using our resources and skills to secure major private sector investment into our borough, we will create jobs for residents and generate revenue for the Council.”

Davies added the revenue generated from the development via council taxes and business rates would be “reinvested in supporting [Wirral’s] frontline services”.

The proposals are to be backed at a council meeting on 18 December.

Plans for the development of the municipal course were announced as far back as MIPIM 2008. In 2013, a year after relaunching the project at the neighbouring Royal Liverpool Golf Club during the Ricoh Women’s British Open, Wirral Council formally launched the procurement process that saw Nicklaus Group appointed.

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