canada A New Course for the Falls?

     A golf community may soon take shape on the Canadian side of “the honeymoon capital of the world.”
     I’m talking about Niagara Falls, of course, a destination for young lovers since 1802. The city isn’t famous for its golf courses, but late last year the door was opened for a venture that a top local hotelier has been romancing since the late 2000s.
     Hospitality Resorts, Inc. wants to build the community, called Mont Rose, on 410 acres in the northwestern part of the city. In addition to an 18-hole “championship” golf course, it’s been master-planned to include 240 houses, a winery, and a vineyard.
     Hospitality Resorts, which owns the city’s Hilton hotel (it’s said to be the tallest hotel in Canada), is controlled by the DiCosimo family, a business force in Niagara Falls since the 1960s. The DiCosimos have hired Toronto-based Tom McBroom, one of Canada’s best-known architects, to design the course. They hope to break ground on it in late 2013 or early 2014.
     The development of Mont Rose has been held up because the DiCosimos’ property is located outside city limits. But in 2012, after years of negotiations, local officials agreed to expand Niagara Falls’ urban boundary to include it.
     Next, the DiCosimos need to persuade local and provincial officials to approve their master plan. Let’s hope the remaining steps in the development process lead to a happy marriage.

     The original version of the preceding post first appeared in the December 2012 issue of the World Edition of the Golf Course Report.