Rosemurgy Properties Wins Approval for 540 Townhomes in Margate
Margate approved zoning for Rosemurgy Properties' Lakes of Carolina, up to 540 townhomes and 24,800 sf of retail on the closed Carolina Golf Club site.
Margate city commissioners approved two ordinances on September 2 clearing the way for Rosemurgy Properties to redevelop the closed Carolina Golf Club into Lakes of Carolina, up to 540 townhomes and 24,800 square feet of commercial space at 3011 N Rock Island Road, according to Margate Talk’s review of the meeting. The Boca Raton developer is applying on behalf of J & D Golf Properties, the site’s owner of record, on a plan that also demolishes the shuttered McDivot’s Restaurant and the former clubhouse.
Why it matters
This is one of the largest recreational land conversions moving through South Florida right now, a private golf course becoming a mixed residential and commercial site inside an already built out Broward suburb. The version that passed is smaller than what Rosemurgy first proposed. The company dropped a multifamily apartment component, cut density, added height limits and landscape buffers, and shifted the residential program entirely to townhomes after neighbors objected to the original scale. Mayor Antonio Arserio called the outcome “the best deal possible for the city,” while Commissioner Ruzzano said items promised to the city were withdrawn, a split that shows the fight over scale did not end with the vote.
The numbers
The approved ordinances allow a maximum of 540 residential units across two of the site’s three development pods, plus 24,800 square feet of commercial space on the third pod, which can convert to residential. Sixty seven acres are set aside as permanently preserved open space, including a lake, pocket parks and 3.5 miles of walking trails. The parcel carries Broward County ID 48-41-23-06-0040.
What’s next
The approval followed a review by Broward County, but Margate Talk’s report does not specify a construction timeline or any remaining state or county sign offs. Demolition of the clubhouse and McDivot’s Restaurant has not been scheduled in the public record. Watch for a site plan filing and building permits as the next concrete marker that Rosemurgy is moving from entitlement to construction on Rock Island Road.