Creative Catering owner Nancy Huszar says buying the clubhouse at St. Lucie Trail Golf Course in St. Lucie West would fulfill her dreams of owning a permanent home for her family business.
Creative Catering is in the process of purchasing the 23,967-square-foot clubhouse from golf course owner CGI St. Lucie LLC of Palm City. Huszar and her family have been running the Lakeview bar and grill and Lakeview Terrace catering facility in the clubhouse since June.
“We have dreamed about owning our own building for years,” Huszar told the Port St. Lucie City Council on April 8. “You know how expensive things are to buy? Well this came at a price Creative Catering could afford.”
“We have given it our heart and soul,” Huszar said. “My family has put in a lot of time, a lot of money. We’ve put almost $100,000 into the building already and we don’t even own it yet because we wanted to bring it back to life.”
“We’re just asking that you give us the opportunity to purchase this building and just move on and make it a better place for Port St. Lucie and all its residents,” Huszar told the council.
The clubhouse deal hinges on City Council approval of technical changes to the land use, zoning, plat and development order to legally separate the property from the golf course so the building can be sold.
The council approved the land use and zoning changes on April 8. The council is set to review the plat and updated development order on April 22.
Huszar and her family opened the West End Grill in St. Lucie West in 2004 and later took over the banquet hall at SpringHill Suites by Marriott.
Creative Catering set up shop in the St. Lucie Trail Golf Course clubhouse in June and started fixing it up, Huszar said.
“It was dead,” Huszar said of the facility. “It was dirty, it was unkempt. My husband changed 200 lightbulbs. We did so much work on the building just to get it where people would want to come back. And they are coming back.
“We do all kinds of events now,” Huszar said. “We do comedy shows, dance nights. We’re doing Easter brunch, Mother’s Day brunch. Our hours are consistent. We’re always there for the neighbors. We want to bring life back to that clubhouse … and make it a fun place like it used to be when it was first built.”
Mary Anne Russell, president of the Country Club Estates Homeowners Association, said she’s glad the clubhouse bar and grill is back in full swing.
“I also golf at St. Lucie Trail. I’m in that clubhouse quite often,” Russell said. “They’re going a great job. It’s nice to have people back in there. You come in from golfing, you can actually have a drink, where you couldn’t when it was (owned by) PGA because if there was no one in there they closed it down.”
Another Country Club Estates homeowner, Fay Walek, said she’s glad Creative Catering is buying the clubhouse, but questioned the need to change its land use and zoning to commercial.
“My concern about rezoning is, it’s going to affect my property value,” Walek said. “I don’t see any reason.”
Mayor Greg Oravec agreed with Walek and voted against the land use change, calling the general commercial designation “too permissive.”
“Now we’re going to allow a CG, General Commercial future land use in the middle of a beautiful single-family neighborhood and golf course,” Oravec said. “That opens it up quite a bit. I think we should have just maintained the status quo until the golf course changes.”
But Oravec added, “I’m great fans of the Huszar family. I’m glad they have it. I think that’s the best for everybody.”
Vice Mayor Shannon Martin, Councilman John Carvelli and Councilwoman Stephanie Morgan voted for the land use and zoning changes. Councilwoman Jolien Caraballo was absent.
Carvelli, whose district includes St. Lucie West, said he’s noticed a surge in activity at the clubhouse since Creative Catering took over.
“I appreciate the dedication you’ve made to this project,” Carvelli told Huszar. “It’s a positive move for the clubhouse, keeping it intact and getting it to run as a restaurant.”
