LYNDHURST, Ohio -- Shareholders at Acacia Country Club agreed Thursday night to sell their 160-acre property to a conservation group, ending speculation about the future of the 87-year-old golf course.

At a closed-door meeting, members holding 77 percent of the private club's shares voted in favor of a $14.75 million deal with the Conservation Fund, a nonprofit group based in Arlington, Va.

The vote scuttles attempts to develop the 18-hole golf course, long viewed as a prime spot for shopping, offices or other development along a bustling suburban corridor. Now that high-profile property, a rare slice of greenery between the Beachwood Place mall and Legacy Village shopping center, could become anything from a quiet park to a public golf course.

"This property will remain as green space and will not be used any more intensively than it is today," said Matt Sexton, a senior vice president of real estate with the conservation group. "We expect the clubhouse to be here and to be available, at least for events like weddings and things like that. And possibly conferences. But we expect the footprint of the property to remain as it is today."

Acacia, founded in 1922 and at the same location since 1925, will see its members finish a final season on the Donald Ross-designed course. The Conservation Fund expects to close its purchase in early December.

"What drove the overwhelming support for it was the opportunity to preserve an Acacia legacy with some sort of open space, whatever it will be," Charles Longo, the club's president, said after the shareholder meeting. "The money was a secondary concern for the vast majority of the members."

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In August, Acacia's board of directors chose the Conservation Fund's offer over competing bids from local developers, who hoped to build stores, restaurants, apartments, offices and entertainment venues on the property. That decision met with applause from nearby residents, who feared more traffic on Cedar and Richmond roads and opposed another retail project.

But Lyndhurst Mayor Joseph Cicero bemoaned the potential loss of the city's top development site -- and the tax revenues that would come with a project. To avert the conservation deal, the city offered to buy the land for $16 million, on behalf of unidentified developers. Cicero was not available for comment Thursday evening.

In previous interviews, he told The Plain Dealer that he had no objection to green space; however, he wanted to see a mix of uses on the property, to generate much-needed tax revenues in the wake of state cuts to local government funding.

But keeping Acacia green proved a more palatable option for the club's shareholders, who have voted down several deals with private developers. In 2008, the shareholders decided to consider selling, amid falling membership and rising costs -- a challenge for many private clubs.





The Conservation Fund was the first suitor interested in preserving the property.

Acacia and the Conservation Fund plan to put deed restrictions on the property, to ensure that it won't be developed. The nonprofit has 90 days to conduct more research and close the deal. Sexton said his organization is talking to other nonprofit groups in Northeast Ohio about managing the property.

"Part of the due diligence will be looking at the financing of the property as a golf course and talking to potential partners we might work with," he said.

Acacia will use money from the sale to pay off debts, then will split the remaining cash among about 86 shareholders, who each hold four to 16 shares. The club also has 100 annual members, who did not participate in the vote.

Real estate brokers said the $14.75 million price was a good deal for Acacia. But the sale is a huge blow to the city, they said.

"I think right now, to Lyndhurst, that was a very valuable, viable asset," said Cliff West, an associate at Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services in Independence and a longtime player in the land business. "If I had to pick a location in Northeast Ohio that is develop-able, that's it. Or that was it."

But residents like Harry Singer, who can see Acacia from his house on Golfway Lane, disagreed.

"Oh, that's fantastic," Singer said Thursday night. "That's just wonderful news. I'm a 57-year-old who almost certainly, if that transaction happens, will revisit my long-term housing plans. I would love to live next to a space like that.

"I own commercial real estate," he added. "I'm not what you'd call a tree-hugger. I just think it's a wonderful enhancement to the community."

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