..as reported in the Palm Beach Post
Upscale Palm Beach Gardens country club planning another expansion
Sarah Peters Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017
BallenIsles plans to expand its Country Club by about 23,000 square feet with outdoor seating and dining on a terrace.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
BallenIsles wants to add about 23,000-square-feet to its clubhouse.
Terraces along the south elevation of the clubhouse will be redone to provide outdoor covered seating.
PALM BEACH GARDENS
A luxurious Palm Beach Gardens community that counts tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams among its homeowners wants to expand its clubhouse and build employee offices.
A change under consideration by the City Council would allow BallenIsles to build out its roughly 80,000-square-foot clubhouse a little less than a half-mile south of PGA Boulevard. The 23,000-square-foot expansion would result in a larger second floor lobby, dining rooms, meeting rooms, bars, kitchens, card rooms and storage areas, according to the city planning staff’s report to City Council. The bigger first floor would have office space and more storage areas.
Terraces along the south elevation of the clubhouse will be redone to provide almost 3,000 square feet of outdoor covered seating and dining.
BallenIsles Country Club General Manager Chris Card did not immediately return a phone message requesting comment, nor did Jack Cook, who is listed as the club president in the application to the city requesting the expansion.
BallenIsles, which has entrances on PGA Boulevard, Northlake Boulevard and Military Trail, has also asked for permission to build a one-story, roughly 3,000-square-foot administration building between the current office building and tennis courts. The new building will replace temporary trailers for employees.
No changes are being proposed to the $40 million, 62,000-square-foot sports complex, which includes equipment, saunas, steam rooms and a physical therapy treatment room.
Both the clubhouse and the sports complex have been expanded and updated several times since they were built, according to a description of the project. A clubhouse expansion approved by City Council in 2007 was not finished.
The proposed renovation project is not intended to increase club dues, according to the planning documents.
The City Council will vote on the proposed expansion at its 7 p.m. meeting Thursday at City Hall, 10500 North Military Trail.
