Drive the loop around Kelly Lake in World Golf Village on a weekday afternoon and you'll pass a locked Hall of Fame building, a dark IMAX marquee, and a parking lot with more geese in it than cars. Turn onto International Golf Parkway toward Buc-ee's and Costco, though, and the picture flips completely: full parking lots, steady truck traffic, and a retail stretch local news outlets have flagged as one of the busiest commercial corridors in St. Johns County. Same three-mile radius. Two entirely different economies running side by side.
If you're comparing neighborhoods in this part of the county, that contrast matters more than it looks. The empty core of World Golf Village isn't evidence that the area has cooled. It's evidence of something narrower and stranger: a single 37-acre parcel bound by a private contract written in 1996, one that has nothing to do with how the surrounding streets, schools, or retail corridor are actually performing.
A Contract, Not a Zoning Map
In 1996, a company then known as Fletcher Davis (now operating as IT Land Associates LLC) sold 37 acres at the heart of what would become World Golf Village to the World Golf Foundation for $100. The catch was written into the deed: the land could only be used for the World Golf Hall of Fame, PGA Tour Productions, an IMAX or similar attraction, and an 18-hole golf course with clubhouse, for 50 years. That clock runs out in 2046.
This is worth sitting with, because it's a different kind of restriction than most home shoppers ever encounter. Zoning can be rezoned by a public vote. A deed restriction like this one runs with the land itself, binding whoever owns it, county government included, regardless of what the original vision was built for or whether that vision still makes sense.
And the vision World Golf Village was built for has mostly left the building. The Hall of Fame relocated to Pinehurst, North Carolina, in 2023. PGA Tour Productions moved its operations to the Tour's studios in Ponte Vedra Beach. The IMAX theater went dark. The restriction, meanwhile, didn't move at all.
The County Tried to Buy Its Way Out
In April 2024, St. Johns County commissioners approved a $5.5 million agreement to purchase the Foundation's holdings, the former PGA Tour Productions building, the lake, and the surrounding common areas and parking, with the idea that public ownership would open the door to a real redevelopment plan.
It didn't work that way. County officials discovered that owning the land wouldn't exempt it from the 1996 restriction. Whoever holds title, public or private, is still bound to golf, entertainment, and ancillary uses only, until 2046. That single fact is what unraveled the sale.
World Golf Foundation CEO Greg McLaughlin, whose organization eventually sued IT Land Associates over the same restriction, put the frustration plainly after a Florida circuit judge upheld the covenant this past summer:
"The Hall of Fame's been closed for three years. PGA Tour Entertainment building's closed two years. I think the real loss, sadly, out there is going to be what's happening to the community."
What Sitting Empty Actually Costs
The vacancy isn't free, even for the parcels the county already owns. At a March 2025 commission meeting, Deputy County Administrator Jesse Dunn told commissioners that keeping the former Hall of Fame building as-is runs about $369,000 a year in utilities, maintenance, and insurance. Replacing the chillers, along with pressure washing and painting the building could soon need, would add a one-time cost of roughly $762,000. Operating the IMAX theater, with its trademark fees, insurance, and taxes, adds another $165,000 a year.
That's taxpayer money maintaining buildings nobody can currently repurpose, a direct line from a 1996 handshake to a 2026 line item.
The Lawsuit, in Four Dates
The legal fight over whether that restriction still applies has moved slowly, and it isn't fully resolved even now.
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| February 2025 | World Golf Foundation Inc. sues IT Land Associates LLC in the 7th Judicial Circuit, seeking a declaratory judgment that the restrictions no longer apply |
| July 2025 | A circuit judge denies IT Land's motion to dismiss, allowing the case to proceed |
| July 2026 | Judge R. Lee Smith grants IT Land's motion for summary judgment, ruling the restrictions remain enforceable through 2046 |
| August 2026 | County confirms an affected property owner may attempt to acquire development rights from IT Land to terminate the restriction by negotiation, a path the Foundation's CEO calls unlikely to move quickly |
That last row is the one worth watching. The ruling gave the Foundation 15 days to request a rehearing and 30 days to file an appeal, windows that closed by late August. As of this writing there's no public reporting on whether the Foundation used either option, which is itself telling: the loudest recent news isn't a new filing, it's the county's suggestion that one of the affected property owners could acquire the remaining development rights from IT Land Associates and negotiate with the other owners to extinguish the restriction outright, potentially producing a new redevelopment proposal within 45 to 60 days of that August announcement. McLaughlin was skeptical even of that path, telling reporters the parties have been "in discussion... off and on for three or four years" without substantive progress, and calling a quick resolution "fanciful."
Nearby resident Kerry Naione summed up how the standoff feels from the outside: "It is literally a ghost town."
Meanwhile, Two Miles Down International Golf Parkway
None of this has slowed the money moving around the restricted parcel. Buc-ee's, Costco, Bass Pro Shops, and Home Depot have all anchored in near World Golf Village, part of what local reporters have described as a booming commercial corridor even as the village core sat quiet. The Renaissance Resort at World Golf Village, which has operated under Marriott's Renaissance brand since 1988 and sits just outside the restricted acreage, changed hands in a $24.25 million sale to SUN Development & Management Corp, a transaction that had nothing to do with the litigation next door.
Retailers, hoteliers, and county planners have kept investing in the surrounding footprint on a completely separate track from the one three lawyers and a circuit judge have spent eighteen months arguing over.
What This Means If You're Comparing Neighborhoods
If you're weighing homes in the communities that ring World Golf Village, the practical takeaway is narrower than the headlines suggest. The 2046 restriction attaches to a specific, deeded 37-acre parcel: the former Hall of Fame building, the IMAX theater, the old PGA Tour Productions site, and the golf course and clubhouse tied to the original 1996 agreement. It does not extend to the surrounding residential streets, the schools your kids would attend, or the retail corridor that's kept growing regardless of how the lawsuit lands.
The broader lesson travels well beyond this one property. Deed restrictions bind land, not headlines. If you're evaluating any property near a legacy master-planned development, whether in St. Johns County or anywhere else, the right question isn't "how does this neighborhood feel right now." It's "what specific covenants are recorded against this specific parcel, and who do they actually bind." That's a title search question, not a drive-by impression, and it's the kind of detail worth raising with your agent and your closing attorney before you get emotionally attached to a house.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the World Golf Village restriction affect home values in the surrounding neighborhoods? The restriction is recorded against the specific core parcel, not against the residential subdivisions or retail corridor around it. Nothing about the covenant limits what a homeowner nearby can do with their own property.
Could the restriction be lifted before 2046? Possibly. County officials have described a path where an affected property owner acquires the remaining development rights from IT Land Associates and negotiates a termination with the other owners, subject to county board approval. As of this writing, that path remains unconfirmed and the Foundation's leadership has expressed doubt it will move quickly.
Is the lawsuit finished? The July 2026 summary judgment ruling favored IT Land Associates. The Foundation had a 15-day window to request a rehearing and a 30-day window to appeal, both of which have since closed without any public update on whether either was filed. Anyone tracking this parcel closely should watch for the county's separate effort to negotiate a private release of the restriction, which appears to be the more active path right now.
If you're weighing a move into the St. Johns County corridor and want a read on a specific street, school zone, or property that goes beyond what a headline can tell you, The Real Jacksonville is a good place to start that conversation. Schedule a consultation with Bella and get a straight answer on what's actually driving value where you're looking, not just what's making news.
