- October 14, 2026
Editor's note: This story was updated at 10:14 a.m. to include a city response and news of an additional letter of intent received.
The city of Ormond Beach has received two letters of intent to purchase the shuttered River Bend Golf Course property.
On Sept. 11, the city received a letter from Miami-based company Titan Development Partners, LLC, seeking to purchase the 172-acre golf course for $4 million. Then three days later on Sept. 14, the city received another letter from Gerry James, a former candidate for Florida State Senate.
But is the property for sale right now? Based on the city’s responses to the interested parties, the answer is no.
“Any potential future sale of the property would require the approval of the federal government and subject to the restrictions in the deed by which the city received title to the property, as well as other federal requirements,” City Attorney Randy Hayes wrote to James and Titan Development Partners.
James did not include a purchase price in his letter to the city. In an interview with the Observer, James said that he has procured a couple of investors for the golf course. Though he hasn’t personally renovated a golf course property in the past, James is a financial advisor as well as a PGA professional. He also previously opened Strawberry Farms Golf Club in Irvine, California, alongside the golf course’s ownership group.
In 2024, he ran against Sen. Tom Leek to represent District 7 in the Florida State Senate. During his campaign is when he first learned about River Bend.
“After that was all said and done, I had forgotten about it,” said James, of Ponte Vedra. “I went back to work as a financial advisor, and I got a telephone call from a few people asking me if there was interest in jumping into a golf course development project. The original fellow said, ‘We have 3,000-plus signatures that we’re trying to get this thing reopened for the community.’”
James said he spoke with Mayor Jason Leslie and later met with the city manager, city attorney and other staff members.
“They said there were a lot of hurdles that we had to jump through,” James said. He believes those hurdles are either easily resolvable or resolved already.
River Bend sits on Ormond Beach Municipal Airport land, which was deeded over to the city in 1959 by the federal government. But the land is still subject to regulations from the Federal Aviation Administration.
At the Sept. 10 commission meeting, city staff explained that the FAA is requiring an updated airport master plan before allowing a new operator to reopen the golf course. In previous discussions, city staff has said that the FAA would not consider using the land for purposes other than aeronautical, or allow it to be sold, without a master plan update projecting the airport’s 20-year aeronautical demand.
Hayes reiterated this to the interested buyers.
“Approval by the federal government of the golf course use in the past did not result in the permanent approval of that use and did not establish the property as being surplus to future needs of the airport,” Hayes wrote. “The use of the property remains subject to the deed restrictions and other requirements for federally obligated land. In the event the federal government was in the future to allow the city to sell any portion of the property, the city would solicit proposals for the best use at the highest purchase price in accordance with the city’s deed restrictions and any federal requirements.”
The next airport master plan update is being budgeted for the 2027-2027 fiscal year and estimated to cost about $581,000. It could take 12-18 months to complete. The city reported it would be funded via dollars from the FAA and the Florida Department of Transportation.
James said he hasn’t been able to tour the property yet but has had an architect look at the course’s topographical layout and original design.
“My intent, once again, to make it very clear, is to make this a public facility accessible to everybody in the community, and make it a project such as it’ll attract people throughout the state to come play golf there,” James said. “So there is a huge benefit to the city of Ormond Beach if they go ahead and sell this land to me, because of the commitment that I have from my investors and the expertise that I have procured to make this project arguably one of the best golf courses in the state.”
James will bring his proposal before the City Commission during its meeting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 23. He plans to bring his consultant, golfer Fred Funk, and golf course designer Harrison Minchew.
