Harbor Shores Development

By KEVIN ALLEN H-P Business Writer

BENTON HARBOR - Those who hit the links at The Golf Club at Harbor Shores this summer will begin their rounds at Lake Michigan College's M-TEC facility, developers announced Thursday.

The Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course will be available in a "preview" format of nine holes beginning in mid-July, and the course's interim clubhouse will be at M-TEC.

Harbor Shores will lease some 1,855 square feet in the building at 400 Klock Road in Benton Harbor.  The parking lot will also be available to golfers as well as other outdoor space for golf carts, according to a news release.

Developers will build a commercial kitchen and 160-seat dining area at M-TEC as part of the interim clubhouse project, said Terry Hanley, regional operations executive for Kemper Sports, the company managing the golf course.

LMC President Robert Harrison said Harbor Shores will pay the college $26,000 annually in rent.

The spaces Harbor Shores is leasing were either unused or underused, so the club-house will not disrupt the technical training programs at M-TEC, he said.

"The agreement is a win-win for everyone," Harrison said in a written statement. "Lake Michigan College is able to support a once-in-a-lifetime community project, generate some lease income on available space and even take advantage of the improvements Harbor Shores is making to the building as a result."

M-TEC is located just off the golf course's first tee and about a block north of where Harbor Shores will build its permanent clubhouse on Graham Avenue.

Wendy Dant Chesser, president of Cornerstone Alliance and a Harbor Shores trustee, said the M-TEC lease is for one year, but developers have an option to renew it for two more one-year periods.

While the full 18-hole course is scheduled to open in 2010, the permanent club-house will likely not be complete until 2011, Chesser said.

The Golf Course Oversight Committee still needs to approve the details of the Harbor Shores golf operations, Hanley said.  The committee is scheduled to meet Monday.

The committee was set up as part of Benton Harbor's decision to lease 22 acres of Jean Klock Park for three holes of the course.  It is comprised of four city officials and Mark Hesemann, the managing director for Harbor Shores.

Representing the city are Mayor Wilce Cooke, City Commissioner Bryan Joseph and Assessor Steve Archibald as well as Angela Brock, an accountant and Benton Harbor resident.

Hesemann and Brock will not be allowed to vote on committee decisions.

Harbor Shores officials are recommending that the course open July 15 and run through October depending on the weather, Hanley said.

He said they will also recommend charging $75 per round this season. That price will include cart rental, he said.

Hanley said holes 1 and 2 and 10 through 17 will be open for play this summer. The 17th hole will be considered a bonus hole on the nine-hole course.

Harbor Shores officials are recommending that play be limited to 60 rounds per day, three days per week during this first season, he said.