The Heritage Greens Kitchen & Bar at The Wyckoff Country Club on Wednesday, Sept. 16. Owner Caesar Ruiz has proposed an upscale residential community for the property. The course will officially close permanently on Nov. 1.
Reminder Publishing file photo
HOLYOKE — Starting Nov. 1, Wyckoff Country Club’s golf course will close permanently as owner Cesar Ruiz announced a proposal to turn the 110-acre golf course and surrounding property into an upscale residential community.
Ruiz’s announcement said that this decision follows a thorough strategic planning exercise to determine the highest and best use for the property, which he originally purchased to develop a new Volleyball Hall of Fame and sports complex.
Paul Robbins of Paul Robbins Associates told Reminder Publishing via email on behalf of Ruiz that this property has been considered for housing in the past and has the appropriate zoning. He also shared that it is located near nature with access to highways and that there is a serious need for more housing statewide.
“We have the opportunity to build a singular residential community at the base of the Holyoke Range, in the foothills of the Berkshires, while providing much-needed housing,” Ruiz stated in the release. “This spectacular location for single-family homes is among the best in all of Western Massachusetts with its access to Interstate Route 91 and the Massachusetts Turnpike. This site also takes advantage of access to the Connecticut River, the Holyoke Reservoir system and hiking, biking and passive recreation.”
Robbins added that the sports complex’s future remains undecided, but either way, Wyckoff will not be in the picture for that project.
According to a UMass Amherst Donahue Institute 2025 study, Hampden County has a shortage of 12,991 homes. The four-county region needs approximately 23,420 homes to meet current demand, according to the study. This fall, a statewide referendum is on the ballot that will make housing easier to build and access, as leaders and housing advocates grapple with the current shortage, according to Ruiz.
The Wyckoff property is zoned residential, and no zone change will be required to develop the new residential community. Minimum building lots will be 20,000 square feet, and Ruiz said he is in the process of identifying a residential home developer for the project.
Robbins told Reminder Publishing via email that no specific timeline for the project has been determined yet, as the engineering work, including a traffic study, is in process. Once all engineering work is completed, he said they will have a better sense of the timeline.
The 110-acre expanse can comfortably house 126 homes, according to Ruiz, who added that the community is expected to generate around $1 million annually in real estate taxes to Holyoke.
Ruiz said when golf season ends on Nov. 1, it will represent the conclusion of Wyckoff as a golf course, and all events scheduled for Nov. 2 and beyond are canceled.
“While I am sad to see this transition, and we made a concerted effort to the golf course and the Wyckoff community and membership, I am enthused about what this new chapter will bring to the property and to the city and region,” Ruiz said.
Ruiz said the over-saturation of golf in the region and the emergence of virtual golfing alternatives also were considered in strategic planning.
“We certainly made large investments of capital and time to the golf course and related, but after our thorough analysis we came to the conclusion that the best use of the property is clearly to add to a very thin housing stock. There still are plenty of golf opportunities in the region, but there are not enough homes to serve our local population,” Ruiz said. “I am proud of what our team was able to accomplish at the Wyckoff. This is a property that was in decline for many years, and we made significant investments to upgrade the golf course and make our banquet hall and restaurant vibrant, after many years of dormancy.”
Ruiz also revealed that he had a major health scare over the summer and his time in recovery allowed him to analyze all the options for Wyckoff. “Experiencing a major health challenge, which I am happy to say I am recovering from, allowed me the time and space to determine what was the best and highest use for the property in a community that I am heavily invested in. In my heart, I know this is the right thing to do for the community.”
City Councilor Meg-Magrath Smith, who chairs the Ordinance Committee, explained that the project is in the very early stages and the plan can still change, but because the city does not own Wyckoff, it can only require an owner to follow its ordinances, and the City Council cannot prevent them from doing what is allowable on their properties.
Furthermore, the City Council can vote yes or no if a zone change is proposed, but since the project does not require a zone change, the project could potentially proceed with little council input beyond actions like accepting new roads as public ways, according to Magrath-Smith.
Magrath-Smith said the subdivision proposal will officially be shared with the city on Oct. 15 for an interdepartmental meeting of all relevant departments, including Planning, Engineering, Building, Fire, and Conservation, and anyone else, to inform Ruiz about the steps and ordinances that need to be followed for the project to be built in that zone. That meeting is not open to the public, according to Magrath-Smith. She said it is a pre-meeting to the future meetings with city departments.
There was also a wetlands delineation done last year that Magrath-Smith said Ruiz needs to ensure will be respected and followed. She added that she will update the public with more information following the meeting on Oct. 15.
