What's planned at the former Grenelefe resort, and why are county officials skeptical?

Paul Nutcher, Lakeland Ledger
·4 min read

A plan to redevelop the former Grenelefe Golf and Tennis Resort in eastern Polk County with an additional 1,900 homes is meeting skepticism from residents and county officials about the capacity of the area’s privately run wastewater treatment facility.

In a 30-minute meeting in early April with the Development Review Committee, county staff asked a representative from Grenelefe Resort Development LLC pointed questions about the aging wastewater facility and its capacity.

The meeting came barely a week after county commissioners rejected a Community Development District for a planned development just south of Grenelefe. The CDD, which raises funding for infrastructure through additional taxes assessed to residents of the district, could have been expanded in the future to include the larger Grenelefe development.

Center court at Grenelefe, where such stars as Martina Navritilova, Jennifer Capriati and Venus and Serena Williams once played in tennis tournaments, is now overgrown with weeds and its structures falling apart. A plan to redevelop the resort calls for demolishing the 22-court tennis complex to build new housing units.
Center court at Grenelefe, where such stars as Martina Navritilova, Jennifer Capriati and Venus and Serena Williams once played in tennis tournaments, is now overgrown with weeds and its structures falling apart. A plan to redevelop the resort calls for demolishing the 22-court tennis complex to build new housing units.

At that meeting, residents and one county planning commissioner spoke about problems with wastewater infrastructure in Grenelefe.

The county’s Development Review Committee is one of the last stops projects make before moving on to a hearing with the Planning Commission. That hearing is expected by June or July.

Here’s what we know.

Grenelefe master plan showing existing resort and proposed site on undeveloped land to the south.
Grenelefe master plan showing existing resort and proposed site on undeveloped land to the south.

What’s planned for Grenelefe?

In his original March 7 application, developer Frederick Scott House of Lakeland proposed two sections along Kokomo Road, one spanning 350 acres where old tennis courts and a former convention center sits, according to a GrowthSpotter.com report in February. Those would be demolished to make way for single-family homes on 50- to 60-foot wide lots for a total of 651 units.

There would also be two sections for townhouses, one with 88 and another with 114 units, the report said. And the plans suggest an 84-unit duplex development east of Lake Marion Road.

The current driving range near the northeast entrance off County Road 544 would stay and a new clubhouse is proposed as well as an executive nine-hole golf course, GrowthSpotter said. In the northwest section, there are plans for tennis or pickleball courts.

Overgrown cart paths wind through old fairways and dilapidated greens at a golf course at Grenelefe. A developer's plan calls for new houses on portions of the old golf course, but it would leave the driving range intact and a nine-hole executive course.
Overgrown cart paths wind through old fairways and dilapidated greens at a golf course at Grenelefe. A developer's plan calls for new houses on portions of the old golf course, but it would leave the driving range intact and a nine-hole executive course.

Plans for the western section call for 488 single-family homes on 186 acres of the golf course to the west of Kokomo Road, and 100 townhomes near Kokomo’s intersection with CR 544, the report said.

Assuming the applicant for the undeveloped land south of the golf course eventually gets bonds for the infrastructure, that proposal adds another 423 proposed single-family homes.

What’s the issue with wastewater?

The meeting in April included a discussion centered on capacity at a private wastewater treatment plant, among other details.

Much of the skepticism from county officials centers around this wastewater treatment plant at Grenelefe. Some county officials don't think it has the capacity. The developer says it does.
Much of the skepticism from county officials centers around this wastewater treatment plant at Grenelefe. Some county officials don't think it has the capacity. The developer says it does.

Polk County comprehensive planning administrator Chanda Bennett asked as project representative whether the proposed community would have wastewater treatment capacity at its plant. 

“I don’t think the plant has capacity,” Bennett said.

When the representative said they had capacity, she said the project team would need to submit to the county its current capacity, permitted capacity and the available capacity.

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Her comment comes less than two weeks after local residents and Polk County Planning Commissioner Tommy Addison said during a County Commission meeting that Florida Department of Environmental Protection documents show the plant was designed for a capacity of 0.68 million gallons per day, but FDEP has it limited to 0.34 million gallons.

“Which tells me, it’s not even capable," Addison said at the April 2 meeting. “It’s not been maintained to handle the load it’s already got. And now you’re talking about adding more to that.”

History of Grenelefe

The former Grenelefe resort on more than 1,273 acres southeast of Haines City was once a gem, especially for golf and tennis enthusiasts.

The old convention center at Grenelefe would be demolished under the redevelopment plan. The area where it and 22 tennis courts sit would be used for 651 new single-family homes.
The old convention center at Grenelefe would be demolished under the redevelopment plan. The area where it and 22 tennis courts sit would be used for 651 new single-family homes.

During the 1980s and 1990s, young tennis prodigy Jennifer Capriati trained a Grenelefe. And Venus and Serena Williams and Andy Roddick also played there, according to previous Ledger reports.

In its heyday, there were 22 tennis courts, a convention center, three restaurants, four swimming pools and plans for a marina and 417 condos on nearby Lake Marion. Now, reviews on travel websites and Google barely break a three-star ranking.

According to the GrowthSpotter report, “Timeshare giant Westgate Resorts bought the property in 2004 and operated it for nearly two decades.”

In early 2022, Westgate found two buyers: Alya Grenelefe LLC, which paid $31.5 million for 417 condominiums, and Grenelefe Resort Development LLC, led by Ronin Assets founder Scott House, which paid $3.1 million for the golf and tennis facilities, 15 lake loft condos and the private utility that services the entire community.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Polk County staff has questions about Grenelefe redevelopment plans