White Pines Could Get Up To $150M In Sale: Official

BENSENVILLE, IL – The Bensenville Park District has received unsolicited offers of up to $150 million for selling nearly half of the White Pines Golf Club, an official said Thursday.

The club, which consists of two 18-hole golf courses, is a few blocks north of the Elmhurst city limit.

The park district previously indicated the property may draw as much as $100 million, which the park official said Thursday was a "very conservative" number.

In an interview, Joe Vallez, the park district's executive director, cautioned that the $150 million offers may not stick.

"The numbers they are flashing around aren't necessarily going to be the final numbers," Vallez said. "The numbers are qualified by a number of things – how much dirt has to be moved in and out, how much remediation has to be done, how many trees have to be taken down."

At the time time, he said the sale of 125 acres of the 260-acre golf would bring in high numbers whatever the case.

"The numbers are accurate when it comes to the value of greenspace in DuPage County with previous developments," Vallez said.

The park board has said little about the plans for the golf club. But more than 100 residents showed up at the park board's meeting Thursday. Many of them spoke up against selling the property.

"The (park) commissioners are very pleased with the fact that the community has come out to give their opinions," Vallez said. "We'll continue to reach out to residents. As soon as the park district has all the information, we'll put it out and let everyone look at it. Right now, we have minimal information."

The process of gathering information should take another three to four months, he said.

Asked why proponents of a possible sale did not show up to speak, Vallez said they would likely do so in time.

"With pretty much any issue, you'll find people for or against it," he said. "There are people who don't golf and don't live next to a golf club who have no interest in what is going on there. They may have interest in other things that the park district is looking at enhancing with the potential revenue from the sale."

Vallez said developers have shown up with unsolicited offers for about five years.

Ordinarily, a park district could not sell a big chunk of land. But at the park district's urging, the state Legislature last year voted to let the park board approve the sale of up to 125 acres of the golf club.

The park district says the golf club has lost money for years. In the pandemic, the club saw a surplus because people had few other things to do, officials say.

Some nearby residents are opposed, saying the change would worsen traffic, noise and flooding.