Quail Valley is adding a fourth major facility to its roster of club locations to meet demand for racquet sports and lawn games among its members.
It will build the impressive complex on approximately eight acres at 41st Street and 11th Drive, smack dab in the middle of the most active area of luxury development in Indian River County, where two large Class-A apartment complexes and two high-end subdivisions are planned or underway just north of Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital.
The initial plan shows a recreational wonderland of racquet and lawn game courts, including eight pickleball courts, four padel courts, four bocce ball courts, and an expansive croquet section with full and half-court fields. There will also be an exhibition tennis court and lap pool.
Besides sporting facilities, the sprawling new complex, which is called Quail Valley Rec Center in county documents, will include a fitness center, spa, market and dedicated Kids Zone building. There will be an administration center and residence along with several pavilions and other structures.
“It is prestigious location, close to the medical center and only a few minutes from the ocean,” said GHO Homes president Bill Handler, who is going through the county approval process to build Riverfront Groves, a 72-home luxury subdivision that will share an entrance with and adjoin the south side of the Quail Valley sports facility.
The country club project is at the same stage of planning as Riverfront Groves. Quail has submitted its detailed preliminary plan to the county and it has been favorably reviewed with the usual long list of caveats.
In a response to the plan, which was sent to project engineer Joe Schulke last month, county planners included 41 notes to correct and clarify the plans, but concluded by stating that, “discrepancies do not appear to be significant” between what Quail managing partner Kevin Given and his team envision and what the county requires.
Quail Valley has seven tennis courts at its popular River Club but no place for pickleball, which has been the fastest growing sport in the U.S. for the past five years, or padel, which is rapidly gaining momentum among Baby Boomer racquet enthusiasts.
“I am super excited about the pickleball and padel courts,” said longtime Quail Valley member and tennis player Angela Waldrop, who recently plunged into pickleball “playing at least once a week and more often if possible.
“My husband and I both play, and we have a large group of friends we play with, often having dinner together afterward. It’s really a lot of fun.”
Waldrop, who manages rental property operations at Dale Sorensen Real Estate, said the group currently plays at other area clubs and public facilities, finding courts where they can.
“I’m sure having easy access to pickleball at our own club will increase the amount I play,” she said.
“It will be great to have a true exhibition tennis court, too, one with bleachers for when we have our charity cup and other larger events,” Waldrop added.
Given told Vero Beach 32963 that there have been revisions to the initial plan but did not provide details because he is waiting to see if the changes are approved by the county. “We are optimistic that we will have direction from the county in next 10-14 days,” he said last week.
None of the surrounding residential projects has any direct link to the planned club complex, but there is synergy between them.
Asked if Quail Valley building next to his subdivision has any advantages, Handler said, “Absolutely! I am a member at Quail, and it is fantastic. What Kevin has done at the River Club and Golf Club is world class. To share some affinity with Quail’s quality and reputation in a huge advantage for us.”
Vero Beach Country Club, Grand Harbor and Boulevard Tennis Club all are within a mile of Quail’s development, and Waldrop said the new club complex will “really solidify the area [around Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital] as being a great alternative to the island for country club living.”
Handler, who already has four subdivisions within a mile of the Quail project – three active and one just completed – said the area is prime for residential development because it is only a few minutes away from the island’s beaches and amenities but doesn’t face the same storm risks and high insurance costs of as island properties.
Besides Riverfront Groves, the other three developments within a stone’s throw of the planned club complex The Vivian, Costa Pointe and Verity, which is under construction on the south side of the Riverfront Grove tract, on the east side of 11th Drive – which was built last year to link 41st Street and 37th Street and facilitate development.
“I think that 11th Drive plays a big part [in the burst of luxury development], as it now connects 41st Street to 37th Street and provides much needed north and south connectivity, especially for the parcels that were once landlocked,” county chief of current development Brandon Creagan said in an email. “With the construction of 11th Drive, [all] it took one project to start developing to encourage the other projects to also start development.”
Verity will include 276-unit Class A apartments in an 18-acre, “resort-like setting,” with more than 50 listed luxury features and amenities, ranging from quartz countertops and hardwood floors to valet service and its own pickleball court.
Verity is being developed by Thompson Thrift, an integrated real estate company that has developed more than 23,000 units worth $6 billion over the past 35 years, according to the company’s website.
On the west side of 11th Drive, across from Quail, Riverfront Groves and Verity, dozens of homes are under construction in Costa Pointe, a 202-home “resort style” subdivision being built by DiVosta Homes, with starting prices from $457,000 to $657,000.
The fourth new development is the Vivian, an ultra-luxury,189-unit apartment and townhouse complex that is being built by Proctor Construction a couple of hundred yards from the Quail project, taking dramatic shape on the east side of Indian River Boulevard over the past couple of months.
It is being developed by PAC Land Development, which has built more than 10,000 apartments worth more than $1.5 billion, specializing in high-end projects in quaint Florida towns, according to company president Tom Cavanaugh.
Two features hint at the quality of the project.
There will be a glass-wall, climate-controlled wine room where residents can store and retrieve their wine next to a piano lounge with a baby grand.
“For a little extra flare, we have two 2,500-gallon aquariums, so people can watch the fish while sitting at their high-tops listening to the piano,” said Cavanaugh. “There is nothing else like our project in Vero Beach and not much else like it on the east coast of Florida.”
All four residential projects are high-end developments being built by top-tier builders and developers. Rents at the Vivian will start at $5,500 a month for the largest, 2,800-square foot apartments – decidedly upscale for Vero Beach.
The addition of a “world class” country club facility next door will likely add appeal and value to the residential developments in coming years, helping push up home prices and rental rates.
“I think it will affect all the rentals in that area,” said Waldrop, making the Indian River Boulevard corridor more attractive to current or future Quail members.
“Having the ability to walk or bike or golf cart to the facility from your home would be very appealing,” Waldrop added.
“Quail Valley began in the year 2000 under the vision and guidance of Steve Mulvey, who had deep roots in Vero Beach dating back to his family owning part of the Brooklyn Dodgers and Los Angeles Dodgers,” according to Quail’s website. “Partnering with Kevin Given, along with 30 founding members, they developed what is one of the most unique club concepts in the country.”
Given and Mulvey, who passed away in 2017, opened their renowned golf club on 400 mainland acres in 2002, the same year they bought 10 acres on the Indian River Lagoon that had been the Riomar Bay Yacht Club.
Quail’s River Club, which is a centerpiece of island life, opened on July 4, 2003. It offers members “a 43-slip marina, overnight lodging, tennis, fitness center and spa, lap pool, tiki bar and multiple dining outlets.”
In 2014, Mulvey and Given bought the old Lobster Shanty restaurant at the end of Royal Palm Pointe, across the Indian River Lagoon from the River Club.
In 2016 they opened a 47,365-square-foot waterfront complex called The Pointe, which included a new restaurant, lounge and hotel for the exclusive use of members in their guests.
Fast-forward eight years and, after lots of planning and due diligence, the club closed on the 11th Drive property in early July, paying $3.9 million for approximately eight acres, according to a warranty deed on the Indian River County Clerk of the Court’s website.
Given did not provide a timeline for when construction will begin on Quail Valley’s fourth facility, or when it will be complete.
Creagan said, despite the county’s generally favorable initial comments, “the project is not close at this time to being approved. Depending on how staff comments are addressed, there could be additional rounds of review before we get to any sort of approval. The project does require Administrative Permit Use review and approval from the Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC).”
Photos by Joshua Kodis
