By JOHN HOWELL
Warwick Beacon Editor
Once considered a possible municipal golf course on Warwick Neck and an adjoining 208 slip marina, Harbor Lights, have been sold to the owner of a marina and restaurant in Falmouth, Massachusetts.
Efforts to contact Mark Bogosian, president of Flying Bridge Marina and restaurant, proved unsuccessful; however, according to those who have met him, Bogosian, for the moment at least, is intent on maintaining and improving upon the operation. Within a week of the sale, grounds personnel reported the clubhouse was power-washed and that a team did an assessment of the course, pointing out areas that should be addressed. Bogosian played the course.
That was promising news to golfers Oct. 4 and to Warwick Neck residents who recall the plan to convert what was initially built by James Warburton as an 18-hole par 3 “executive course” in the 1960s into a 60-unit condominium development.
“The course is in great shape,” said Maureen Walsh as she and Annie Sullivan headed toward the first tee. They are regular Harbor Light players, and one of their first concerns was whether the course would stay when they heard the property had been sold.
At the nearby driving range, Jim Martin, who recently moved to Anglesea on the Neck, practiced his chip shots. As a newcomer he was not familiar with the history of the course that went by Seaview Country Club when former Gov. Philip W. Noel and his partners – Harbor View Holding Co. LLC – bought it in 2011 for $1.3 million. Martin was pleased to have the course in close range of his new home.
Noels expand property
Noel and his group had big plans for the property; they envisioned linking the golf course and the marina to create a destination for boaters with a swimming pool and restaurant, a venue with great views for weddings and parties and a 9-hole public golf course.
The 70-acre property was acquired from Monument Marine Group, which bought it in 2023 from Noel and his family. Phil’s son and partner, Joseph, managed the business. Phil’s connection with the marina goes back decades. A mariner and fisherman – he also quahogged as a youth to make a few bucks – Phil teamed up with friends Ted Wheeler and the late Leo Martin to acquire the marina.
With two clubs at his side, Wheeler was out Oct. 4 in his golf cart thinking he might hit a few following a period of convalescence. He’s talked with Bogosian and from what he’s heard thinks he’s invested in making it work. The key, he says are weddings that on the low end of the scale can bring in $20,000. When the Noels were running the operation – Wheeler sold his interest to the Noels – he said they made money the year they booked 82 weddings.
Efforts to build condos failed
In a story published in the Beacon on June 2, 2011, Phil outlined the history of the course from the time Warburton built it until Harbor View bought it. He said Warburton sold it to Peter Noonan, who redesigned it as a 9-hole regulation course. After a fire destroyed the clubhouse, developer Michael Integlia bought the property with the long-range objective of building condominiums.
Integlia’s plan was for 60 condos positioned on a four- or five-hole course. But the wetlands were problematic and the market softened.
Integlia sold the course to J&A Golf LLC. But Justin and Anthony Caron of J&A had trouble making it profitable.
It was in 2002 that former Mayor Scott Avedisian worked out a plan to have the city acquire the property at virtually no cost. He wanted to keep the land open as a public course. But the Democrat-controlled City Council shot it down.
At that point the Koffler Group entered the picture with a proposal for 63 housing units. They bought the course for $2.2 million in 2005 with a “put” to sell it back to the Carons if they didn’t get the zoning for a housing project. The community objected and the city found the project too dense. Then Avedisian came up with another plan for the city to gain the property through deferred taxes, but it never reached a formal agreement.
The property was bought at a tax sale by J&A that sold it to Harbor View Holding Co. LLC.
In a release last week, Colliers, a global diversified professional services and investment management company, announced the sale of Harbor Lights but did not disclose the buyer or the amount of the sale. Andrew Cantor, senior vice president of Colliers, was quoted as saying, “Since purchasing this marina, Monument [Marine Group] has refined its growth strategy and asset targets, leading to a decision to divest.”
Neal Dupuis, city tax assessor, said the land sale was recorded at $9.92 million. Nonetheless, Wheeler believes the sale price was about $16 million, or close to the price at which Monument brought the property from the Noels. Dupuis pointed out what was recorded by the city is only for the sale of the land and would not take into account event bookings and contracts included in the sale.
