Oak Tree Golf Course Closes
The Oak Tree Golf Course in Oakland Park opened in 1969. Designed by Dick Wilson this golf course had an 18-hole golf circuit and was open to the public (GolfLink). In the late 1980s, the Broad family, owners and managers the golf course, opened up a portion of the land for development. Fifty-eight new houses were built on the site slated for development. This community that was built there became known as Oak Tree Estates .
In 2007 the Oak Tree Golf Course closed for good and the land that was the golf course remained unused until Pulte Homes took an interest in developing it.
Pulte Acquires the Land
By the time the Oak Tree Golf Course closed down, Pulte had already built other communities in Florida. In fact they had acquired several golf courses throughout the state and had already transformed them into vibrant, new, modern communities. In fact, some of the land they acquired and built on was at Woodmont in Tamarac and Hillcrest in Hollywood. Encouraged by their various successes throughout the state, more specifically in South Florida, the acquisition of Oak Tree was a natural fit for the developer.
Planning Oak Tree
After the acquisition of the land Pulte put together a plan for the 139 acre site. Pulte presented the plan for over 800 homes to Oakland Park’s City Commission. The Commission did not approve the plan and recommended several changes, including the inclusion of more open space for residents. Pulte went back to the drawing board and soon presented another plan to the City Commission.
Oakland Park City Commission Approves the Plan for Oak Tree
The new plan called for far less homes and more green space. Instead of 800 plus homes, only 405 homes were planned for the site. It provided for a Public Linear Greenway Park on the northeast, east and south sides of the community. It also included approximately 14 acres of green space for residents’ use and various active and passive areas for leisure activities.
In late 2019, the City Commission approved the plan 4 to 1. Soon after Pulte began preparing the site for its model home park.
Drone Fly-Over of Oak Tree Site
VIP Sales at Oak Tree Begin
By mid-2020, despite the pandemic, the model park at Oak Tree was nearly finished. Pulte launched VIP sales in late July 2020 and the sales were stronger than anticipated. In a recent interview in which I spoke with Jeremy Needleman, General Sales Manager for Pulte’s Southeast region, he related that nearly 40 homes sold in the first couple of months of the sales launch. That is nearly 10% of the total amount of homes that Pulte will build on the site. Even more enlightening was that the largest number of homes that sold were from the most expensive collection offered at Oak Tree.
Stardom Model from the Estate Collection at Oak Tree
Oak Tree, A One-of-a-Kind Community
The development at Oak Tree, according to Needleman and Bridjette Shelfo, VP of Sales for Southeast Florida, is truly unique. Needleman stated that in the process of looking for land on which to build it was difficult to find so much vacant land in one place. Often times, as Pulte did at Hillcrest in Hollywood and Woodmont in Tamarac, they have to build around existing properties. In the case of Oak Tree, they had a huge lot which allowed them to really design a cohesive new community with resort style amenities and green spaces, that make it a one-of-a-kind community.
References
“Oak Tree Golf Club, Fort Lauderdale, FL.” GolfLink, www.golflink.com/golf-courses/fl/fort-lauderdale/oak-tree-golf-club.
About the Author
Désirée Ávila has called Oakland Park her home for over 33 years. In addition to publishing LivingInOaklandPark.com, Désirée has been featured in print publications, locally and abroad. Désirée was an award winning teacher for 10 years and has a doctoral level education in Educational Technology. She is currently a licensed Florida Realtor® and is committed to a high-level of professionalism.
Désirée consistently professionally develops herself and has earned several different professional designations and certifications in real estate including the PSA, e-Pro, AHWD, SRS, ABR, and SFR. She was also awarded the C2EX, Commitment to Excellence award by the National Association for Realtors (NAR). This award is given to Realtors® that distinguish themselves for their commitment to excellence in the real estate industry.
She is esteemed by her real estate colleagues and has consistently received 5 star reviews from her clients. Her philosophy about real estate is that being a Realtor® is a way of teaching and helping people, and in the process a real estate transaction may occur, that is to say her foremost priority is and has always been about helping others.
She is dedicated to her hometown of Oakland Park and works consistently on building and fostering a strong community. She is passionate about photography and loves to read books about history ; the more detail the better! In addition to English, Désirée is fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, French and Italian.
Search for properties at her real estate website : www.DesireeAvila.com or go to www.OaklandParkRealEstateAgent.com for information about the City of Oakland Park and surrounding areas.
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