No Golf Course; No Gross Playground: Young Developer Starts First Community

HOUSTON – (Realty News Report) – The young land developer with a new company called Bold Fox Development starts his first community.

What does he not want? Well, a golf course, for one thing.

“Yesterday’s master-planned communities were typically centered on golf courses,” said Alex Kamkar, Managing Shareholder of Bold Fox Development. “Playgrounds with big yellow slides and traditional playground equipment were typical amenities. We’re taking a look at what lifestyle looks like right now.”

Kamkar said Bold Fox Development communities will place an emphasis on opportunities to be outdoors, connecting with nature on solo adventures or with neighbors when they want.

“We want to use innovative land planning that will create the canvas for the American dream,” Kamkar said.

Bold Fox’s first project — Venetian Pines in Conroe will have walking trails and a lake.

“Since COVID-19, more people are leaving the house and trying to find nature,” Kamkar said. “We want to encourage that with our amenities.”

Kamkar is not alone in giving a thumbs down to golf.

Houston housing consultant David Jarvis rained down on golf in a 2017 interview with Realty News Report. “You couldn’t give me a home in a golf course community,” Jarvis said. “It’s interesting. We have an aging population, yet people don’t want to play golf. It’s an interesting demographic shift.”

Hundreds of golf courses around the nation have closed in recent years. Millennials would rather play video games than smash a 300-yard drive off the tee onto a manicured fairway.

“Residents, developers and municipal officials around the country are facing decisions on whether to convert underperforming golf properties to housing developments or keep them as golfing communities,” according to a study by Florida Atlantic University,

So in the midst of the pandemic, Kamkar’s Bold Fox proceeds with the inaugural Venetian Pines, expecting to have the first homes underway early next year. The 45-acre community will have 200 40-foot homesites and is near Airport Road and Loop 336.

Next up for Bold Fox – another small project in Tomball, which is far from Houston’s urban core.

But what do you expect when you are starting off in a pandemic when people are wearing masks and afraid to be in crowded elevators?

“People are leaving congested areas and looking for places in more rural and suburban areas that have natural features,” Kamkar said.

File: Developer Starts First Community. File 2: Bold Fox: Developer Starts First Community