Cities Finding New Uses for Golf Courses

NorthPoint’s development will make a vacant golf course economically active again.

KANSAS CITY, MO—Golf courses have become less popular, but many developers and planners have ideas on how these spaces can be remade. The Belton Planning Commission voted 8-1 in favor of NorthPoint Development’s $105 million plan to redevelop the former Southview Golf Course in Belton, a Kansas City suburb, into a 148-acre flex industrial campus. The Belton City Council will consider the redevelopment in June and if approved, NorthPoint will break a ground later this year.

At full buildout, the Southview Commerce Center will include five buildings totaling more than two million square feet of state-of-the-art light manufacturing, warehouse and distribution space and create an estimated 1,400 jobs with a potential annual wage impact of $58 million.