Despite a chorus of opposition from residents, Tallahassee city commissioners decided to sell nearly 180 acres of land to Capital City Country Club, which has been leasing it from the city for its 18-hole golf course since the 1950s.
After a long and emotional debate in which the scars of slavery and segregation loomed large, city commissioners voted 3-2 to sell the golf course property to the country club, once a Whites-only facility, for $1.255 million dollars. The sale includes former Houstoun Plantation land containing an unmarked cemetery of Black slaves.
The vote fell along the usual factional lines, with Mayor John Dailey and Commissioners Dianne Williams-Cox and Curtis Richardson voting yes and Commissioners Jeremy Matlow and Jack Porter voting no.
Most of the proceeds from the sale will go into the city’s reserve fund. About $100,000 will be used to complete a long delayed commemorative site for the cemetery, that only gained traction in the weeks before the sale.
The deal struck a nerve with many and sparked emotional comments about race from both the public and commissioners. Others criticized the sell-off of public land and the price tag, which opponents said was way too low given the property’s highest development potential.
Jeff Blair, vice president of the Woodland Drives Neighborhood Association, urged commissioners to “do the right thing” and not sell what he called a “crown jewel” for “a pittance.”
“The stealthy nature, the lightning-fast pace and rushing forward with the sale of the golf course with virtually no transparency, community engagement, public vetting or advanced notification strongly suggest ulterior motives and behind-the-scenes dealings.”
Janet Klemm, who said she enjoys the country club land even though she doesn’t live in the neighborhood, urged commissioners to vote no “until we have more solid assurances.”
“The whole region enjoys the green spaces that have been created by the city,” she said. “The property is a real gem, and it draws so many people from so many places both in town and nearby.”
Assistant city manager touts ‘layers of protection’ in deed
While the vast majority of about two dozen speakers condemned the deal, several spoke in favor, including Kelvin Lawson, chief operating officer of Florida A&M University, Mike Rice, FAMU’s men’s golf coach, and Jared Willis, a lobbyist and lawyer who served on the city’s charter review committee in 2024. He described himself as an on-and-off member of the club.
“I’m a horrible golfer but enjoy getting outside and seeing the rolling hills and the oak trees,” he said. “I think this is a good deal.”
Representatives from Capital City Country Club, who did not speak at the Dec. 10 meeting, have pledged that they have no plans to open the golf course property, lined with majestic live oaks, to developers.
The country club board asked city commissioners ahead of their September meeting to sell the land, citing “financial straits” and the need to own the property outright to secure commitments from lenders and benefactors. During the commission’s Oct. 22 meeting, Fred Baggett, chairman of the country club board, said the club needed to spend as much as $4 million to make long-deferred improvements, including replacing its greens.
Assistant City Attorney Christian Doolin told commissioners Dec. 10 that the land sale includes provisions to make sure the property remains in use as a golf course and cemetery memorial site in perpetuity. He added that the latest language included input from neighborhood associations.
“This input has been incorporated into layers of protection … which achieve the community’s priority, the commission’s direction for a publicly accessible commemoration site, operation of an open space 18-hole golf course and access and use of that golf course in permanence,” he said.
Lee de la Fuente urged commissioners to vote no, saying they had a chance to leave a “positive mark” on their legacy.
“There is no clear advantage to fire-sale this incredibly beautiful, irreplaceable land at this time,” she said.
Black commissioners defend land sale amid accusations of racism
Delaitre Hollinger, president of the National Association for the Preservation of African American History and Culture, continued to criticize the city over its handling of the cemetery memorial, which was delayed for several years, and the sale of the golf course property. He said “virulent institutional racism” was at play.
“I’m not unmindful that the very human beings who were tormented and treated as cattle while they lived suffered at the hands of people who did not look like them,” he said. “But today, in 2025, an impending posthumous sale of this land is potentially being perpetrated by people who do look like them.”
Williams-Cox said the city has had the opportunity to address the issue of race over the years and questioned why it “raised its ugly head again.”
“When we talk about considering the racist, segregationist history of this country club, OK, get in line with all the other things we’ve had to overcome to be able to move forward,” she said.
An emotional Richardson said he felt the pain of segregation growing up in the small town of Green Cove Springs, where he couldn’t swim in the city pool, had to get across the train tracks before dark and felt the rocks that were thrown at him.
“It hurt,” he said. “But I’m not stuck on that. I’m willing to move this community forward in every way that I can.”
Matlow says sale amounts to ‘Mar-a-Lago 2’
The history of the course dates back to 1908, when the Tallahassee Golf Club formed, playing first near the Governor’s Mansion before building a nine-hole course at its current location in Myers Park.
In 1935, the club deeded the course to the city to qualify for a federal grant to build a second nine holes. It went back into private ownership in 1956 to avoid racial integration. An all-White City Commission agreed to a 99-year lease with the private group for $1 a year.
Matlow estimated the land was worth far more than the sale price, perhaps $30-$40 million. He said he wanted to know more about the country club’s intentions and the members of its board, which he said includes “heavy hitters,” that includes an attorney general.
He didn’t mention Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier by name, though he mentioned “attorney generals” with connections to President Donald Trump and “high profile” golf courses. Federal tax records, posted by ProPublica on their Nonprofit Explorer, show Uthmeier served as vice president of the Capital City Country Club board in 2023. The Tallahassee Democrat reached out to Uthmeier’s office for comment.
“Are we going down the path of a golf course that’s ‘Mar-a-Lago 2’ in Leon County?” Matlow asked. “I’m not even joking.”
James Hennessey, who lives across from the golf course on Country Club Drive, said the proposal to sell the land seemed to arise out of “spontaneous combustion” without enough public warning.
“There’s a lot of things,” he said, “that make this whole business suspicious.”
(This story was updated to add new information.)
Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or 850-599-2180.
