The World Golf Village Core Was Supposed to Have a Plan by Now. It Has a Mediator Instead.
"It is anticipated the timeline for this process will move quickly and, if successful, it's possible the county could receive a redevelopment proposal soon," the statement read, putting that window at "the next 45 to 60 days."
St. Johns County released that statement on Aug. 3, 2026, as News4JAX reported, less than two weeks after a judge decided the empty center of World Golf Village has to stay restricted to golf and entertainment uses. Sixty days from Aug. 3 was Oct. 2. By this first week of November, the statement is more than three months old.
Since then, the World Golf Foundation has filed an appeal, the appeals court has sent the case to mediation, and a mediator has been appointed. So the next real change at the old Hall of Fame site will most likely come from that mediation, and from whoever ends up holding the development rights. A County Commission agenda probably won't be where it starts.
The dispute covers the 36.7 acres the World Golf Foundation owns at the center of the village. That land includes the former PGA Tour Productions building, the walkways, the lake in the middle of the complex and the parking around it. St. Johns County separately controls the former Hall of Fame and IMAX buildings, the convention center and its parking.
The restrictions date to the village's founding. They limit redevelopment to golf, entertainment and "ancillary" uses like the Hall of Fame, PGA Tour Productions and an IMAX theater, for 50 years starting July 31, 1996. The foundation sued master developer IT Land Associates in February 2025. It argued that the restrictions became "unnecessary and unachievable" once the Hall of Fame moved to Pinehurst, North Carolina, and PGA Tour Productions moved to Ponte Vedra Beach.
On July 22, Judge R. Lee Smith granted IT Land Associates summary judgment, which settled the case without a trial. The Jax Daily Record reported that the ruling left the foundation three options: ask for a rehearing, appeal, or live with the restrictions until they expire in 2046.
The county's Aug. 3 statement described a way around the 20-year wait. According to News4JAX, administration had been told that "one of the affected property owners intends to acquire the remaining World Golf Village DRI development rights from IT Land Associates." Those rights would include the right to end the deed restriction. Next, the owners would negotiate an agreement to remove the restriction. Any agreement involving the county would need Board approval. After that, the properties could be sold "free and clear."
In the same report, foundation CEO Greg McLaughlin called the timeline "fanciful." He said the parties had been talking "off and on for three or four years" with "absolutely no substantive discussion." The history supports him. Before suing, the foundation offered IT Land Associates $100,000 and then $200,000 to lift the restrictions, and both offers were rejected. In January 2025, the county's own attempt to buy the 36.7 acres for $5.5 million stalled once the restrictions became a central concern.
The foundation filed its notice of appeal on Aug. 31. Here is how the case has moved since then, from the Fifth District Court of Appeal docket as last updated Oct. 27:
| Date | Docket entry |
|---|---|
| Aug. 31, 2026 | Notice of appeal filed in the circuit court by World Golf Foundation |
| Sept. 1, 2026 | Case opens at the Fifth District Court of Appeal; mediation letters go to counsel and the lower court |
| Sept. 8, 2026 | Foundation files its docketing statement |
| Sept. 15, 2026 | Order referring the case to mediation |
| Sept. 25, 2026 | Foundation responds to the mediation order |
| Sept. 28, 2026 | Attorney James R. Wolf appointed mediator |
| Oct. 20, 2026 | IT Land Associates files a notice of appearance |
As of that update, the case was open.
The county's public calendar over the same weeks looks different. The regular Commission agendas for Sept. 1, Sept. 15, Oct. 6 and Oct. 20 have no World Golf Village redevelopment item. The Sept. 28 special meeting covered two unrelated agricultural-enclave matters. The two parties to the 1996 restrictions now have a mediator, and the public agendas show nothing on the core. For now, any progress on the center of the village runs through the appeal.
The county still owns the former Hall of Fame and IMAX buildings, so the empty years aren't free. At a March 2025 Commission meeting, Deputy County Administrator Jesse Dunn put the cost of keeping the Hall of Fame building as it is at about $369,000 a year for utilities, maintenance and insurance. New chillers, pressure washing and painting would add a one-time cost of about $762,000. Running the IMAX again would cost another $165,000 a year. Replacing its screen and projector could cost as much as $1.56 million, and the county never found an operator.
At $369,000 a year, the county's upkeep alone passes $1 million every three years. That's before any work on the chillers, and the buildings earn nothing in the meantime.
The commissioners have already set aside one option. On Nov. 18, 2025, they unanimously rejected two public-private proposals for the buildings. One came from Capital Group P3 Developments of Florida with Alchemy Attractions. The other came from Ergisi Acquisitions and Cross Regions Real Estate. The board chose to wait and see what the hotel's renovation would bring instead. The St. Johns Citizen reported that, according to McLaughlin, the proposed sale to Cross Regions would have opened the way for a medical campus.
The center of the village also lost its longest-running business this summer. Murray Bros. Caddyshack, at 455 S. Legacy Trail, served its last day on June 27, 2026. It had been open since June 2001, back when cofounder Mac Haskell said the site was "surrounded by cow pastures." The Jax Daily Record described the 8,000-plus-square-foot restaurant as the village's longest continuously operated tenant. It closed two years after confirming a 10-year lease extension.
The Hall of Fame closed on Sept. 1, 2023, and the IMAX followed in late 2024. Caddyshack lasted almost three years after the museum left. Earlier this year, cofounder Andy Murray said many people assumed the restaurant had closed along with the Hall of Fame.
The places that are still running sit around the edge of the restricted core, on property the court case doesn't cover:
The hotel is the one piece of the center that has new private money behind it. Indianapolis-based SUN Development & Management bought it through St. Augustine Lodging Associates on July 3, 2025, for $24.25 million. In November 2025, county staff confirmed a planned $20 million renovation. Commissioner Christian Whitehurst called it "a $20 million private sector gift that just got dropped off in our lap."
The next scheduled date on the Legacy Trail side of the village is the King & Bear Patriot Day shotgun at 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 9.
We live and work in this county too, and we're following the World Golf Village case through each docket entry and Commission meeting. If you'd like to talk through what the core's future could mean for your street or your plans, reach out to Karen Lindsey and the Lighthouse Realty family. We're glad to help.
Lighthouse Realty has been in business in the St. Augustine area for over 30 years. We are open 7 days a week to provide you with the best real estate service in St Augustine.