I’ve been following the proposed sale of the Rackham Golf Course, owned by the City of Detroit, located in the City of Huntington Woods. There’s been quite a lot of hullabaloo about the sale, notably among Huntington Woods residents who don’t want to see the historic course turned into another cookie-cutter housing development. It’s a unique situation, as my previous posts have described in detail, because of a restriction on the City of Detroit’s vesting deed which stipulates the course will remain a public course, or it will revert to the Rackham family heirs. All seemed lost when it was announced late last year that the heirs had signed off on the restriction, and the developer upped its bid from $5M to over $11M.

But the Detroit News reports today that the developer has backed out – perhaps because an even earlier deed carries the same restrictions. The developer has not commented, but it seems that they’ve grown tired of the fight.

“While the private developers may have backed out, Huntington Woods officials say they are still interested in buying the course. Huntington Woods City Manager Alex Allie said Tuesday that its $6.25 million offer likely will stand.”

For now, as convoluted as the case has been, all is well. If the City of Detroit is still anxious to sell the course amidst their crippling budget woes, one hopes that it will honor Huntington Woods’ bid of $6.25M; let them keep their course, and pocket a decent chunk of change in the process. It’s a win-win situation.