By LAURIE JOHNSON Country club, apartment project gets underway By LAURIE JOHNSON The Daily News Bulldozers began moving earth Monday to make way for a country club and golf course apartment community in Southeast Memphis. Plans for Irene Golf and Country Club and The Greens at Irene include an 18-hole golf course with a 10,000-square-foot clubhouse, as well as 792 units of one- and two-bedroom garden-style apartments. The country club and golf course will be the centerpiece of the development, with the apartment complexs two-story buildings surrounding the perimeter, said Roy Stanley, president of Fayetteville, Ark.-based Lindsey Management Co. Inc., the developer of the project. The company closed Thursday on a $32.7 million loan through Simmons First National Bank for development of the golf course, country club and apartment complex, according to a deed of trust filed Friday in the Shelby County Registers Office. Lindsey Management purchased the property from the Jamieson family, Stanley said. With 16,000 apartment units and 17 golf courses, Lindsey Management is Arkansas largest apartment community developer. The Irene Golf & Country Club and The Greens at Irene, which will cover 250 acres at the southeast corner of Hacks Cross Road and Shelby Drive, marks the companys first project in Tennessee. The site was chosen because it was one of the last available tracts of its size in that area of Memphis, and because it was in a rapidly growing part of town offering easy access to Nonconnah Parkway, Stanley said. "There are not many places you can go and buy 250 acres anymore," he said. "We also just really liked the lay of the land, and thought it would make a beautiful golf course." Although Memphis has an abundance of golf courses, some of which are nearby, Stanley said the Irene Golf and Country Club was being designed to appeal to a particular niche market. "This will be more of an affordable country club setting. We wont have the extremely expensive memberships or assessments," he said. "Itll be something a family can afford to do and enjoy together." Family membership rates have been set at $200 per month, in addition to an initiation fee that will be somewhere around $2,500, Stanley said, estimating membership at about 550. He said the company developed similar projects in Conway, Little Rock, Rogers, Fayetteville and Marion, Ark., and those so far have been successful. Lindy Lindsey, the eldest son of Lindsey Management chairman Jim Lindsey, has designed the Irene golf course. This will be the 15th course Lindsey has designed. Plans for the country club include a 10,000-square-foot, two-story clubhouse. An exercise facility, pro shop and several meetings rooms will be on the first floor; a restaurant and banquet hall will be on the second floor. Development of the golf course and country club is expected to be completed in November. "Itll be a very quick build," Stanley said. "We go at it pretty hard." The first phase of The Greens at Irene will consist of 504 apartment units. One-third of the units in the initial phase will be one-bedroom; the rest two, Stanley said. Rental rates will start at $650 per month for a one-bedroom unit. Apartments will face both the golf course and the parking lot, with those offering golf course views somewhat more expensive. Amenities of the apartment complex include a clubhouse, fitness center, club room, tennis courts and a junior Olympic-size pool. The golf course also is an amenity, in that apartment residents will automatically be granted affiliate status in the golf club, giving them access to the golf course during non-peak times, Stanley said. "They wont have to pay an initiation fee or monthly dues, only a reduced greens fee from Monday through Thursday." Stanley said the apartment complex would most likely appeal to professional singles and couples, young families and empty nesters who enjoy the golf community environment. "A lot of people like to live on the golf course, even people who dont play golf, because it just has a nice atmosphere, an aesthetically attractive look and feel," he said. "We hope to attract people who enjoy this type of community." The first apartments in the complex are expected to be completed within six months, Lindsey said. The general contractor for both the country club and the apartment complex is Lindsey Construction Co., Lindsey Managements construction division. The project were designed by architect Kim Fugitt of Fayetteville, Ark.