Change is coming to World Golf Village. What that looks like will depend upon decisions by the St. Johns County Board of County Commissioners, county staff recommendations and public input.
In July 2022, the World Golf Foundation announced that it intended to relocate the World Golf Hall of Fame this fall to the United States Golf Association’s new Golf House Pinehurst campus in North Carolina. The Hall of Fame was actually founded in Pinehurst in 1974, but when ownership was transferred to the PGA of America, it was moved to St. Johns County in 1998.
The foundation has informed the county that it intends to cease Hall of Fame operations on Sept. 30 and vacate 1 World Golf Place by Dec. 31. It will convey the 64,113-square-foot building to the county on Feb. 1.
At the same time, the foundation plans to discontinue operations at the IMAX Theater; it currently has a franchise with IMAX Corp. The large movie screen and audio-visual equipment will remain in the building for now. The county could, if so desired, operate the theater itself. The theater is 17,865 square feet.
Another vacancy will take place by the end of 2024 when PGA Tour Productions vacates its own 32,329-square-foot building. Plans are to move those operations to the PGA Tour Global Headquarters in Ponte Vedra. That building has a just market value of $3.24 million.
The 36.07-acre property surrounding the central hub will continue to be owned by the foundation, at least for now. This area includes parking lots, rights-of-way, irrigation and submerged lands. Its just market value is $5.13 million.
As the county works on a plan for the property, it will conduct town hall meetings and surveys to solicit public input.
