MIDLAND, Texas — For almost 25 years, the land that was home to the Nueva Vista Golf Club has, well, been a golf club, but now this is turning into something Midland has never seen before.
The space used to be full of golf balls and golf holes.
However, it’s turning into something potentially special for the City of Midland, as the new owners, Boot Lake Ranch, have submitted their plans for what they want this golf club to turn into: The Preserve at Midland.
"We purchased the golf course back on July 10," Adam Cunyus, Boot Lake Ranch partner, said. "In conjunction with, in two separate transactions, but with an entity called Nueva Boot whose intention is to build a zoo out here and we're going to build a mixed use family-friendly development that is very low density, and it's designed kind of with a live-work-play aspect in mind."
The plan is for a constant level water feature, food and beverage places, a walking trail, a play place, farmer’s market as well as local retail and office space-- creating more than 100 new jobs.
But every plan starts with an idea.
"So we got our inspiration from a development in Abilene that is real close to ACU right off I-20. It's called the Allen Ridge," Cunyus said. "And when we got put onto that development, we really liked the concept and what they did, and they have a constant level water feature, and they back up to that water feature. And so we tracked down the architects of that development, hired them and they're working with us. And so we thought, well, we're in Midland so we can do it bigger and better."
Bigger and better--- in a green space that definitely doesn’t lack space.
The Nueva Vista land is 223 acres; 173 of that going to Boot Lake Ranch and 51 going to Nueva Boot.
And for a place that used to be a golf course, a change this big is a pretty big swing.
"Well, Mr. Crane, the former owner, was kind of done and didn't want to operate the golf course anymore," Cunyus said. "And it was a private piece of property and he wanted to sell it. So we wanted to buy it and our expertise is not in golf. It's in commercial real estate development. So we're just playing to our strengths."
With more and more families moving to Midland, one of the big points of this project is to keep the space safe for those families.
"All of the amenities, we want the space to be extremely safe and walkable, around the central green," Cunyus said. "We're going to keep one of the roads private so we can block it off and we can host events and that might be a movie night in the park or we've spoken to ECR that puts on the energy city race and talk to them about potentially hosting a race out here like a springtime race and so those are the types of things we want to do to encourage families to get out and walk around and feel like they can."
And with the zoo following closely behind, the Preserve seems like a perfect match.
"So the idea is to create an attraction where if a family wants to come and go, walk through the zoo for maybe 2-3-4 hours," Cunyus said. "They can also either beforehand or after stop and get a meal or do some shopping and create just a longer experience throughout the course of the day."
A project this big is going to take some time, an estimated 18-24 months before the hypothetical doors will open.
The 18-24 months that will be followed closely and anxiously by the city--- as something like this can continue to put Midland on the map.
A phrase you might’ve been hearing a lot lately, as the Tall City continues to grow taller.