![Bowling green becoming housing](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 768"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Lynette Spark, with teammates Val Higgins, Doreen Whitton and Barbara Clemson, at a Caringbah clu set for redevelopment. Picture: Darren Leigh Roberts
Sydney’s insatiable quest for land on which to build homes is saving some of the city’s lawn bowling clubs.
Recent rezoning turned the sites in established suburbs – often among the last strips of undeveloped land in their areas – into prized real estate well suited to extensive masterplanned estates.
And a number of the high rise plans, valued at up to $85 million, incorporate upgraded bowling lawns and clubhouses.
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The clubs have been facing uncertain futures as memberships age and fall and too few take to the lawns to aim for the jack.
The latest project to get the green light is the redevelopment of Caringbah Bowling Club in the Sutherland Shire, into 244 units, with some upgraded bowls facilities set to remain.
The $70 million project follows the redevelopment of land at Waverley Bowling Club into 55 units, set for completion next year.
Two greens and a souped up clubhouse are included in the masterplan for what is Sydney’s second oldest bowls club, established in 1893.
An artist’s impression of housing development Caringbah Greens, which will be built atop the current site of Caringbah Bowling Club.
In Lane Cove, a former bowls club on Longueville Rd was turned into 92 units for over 55s in a project announced in 2019. Closed bowls clubs in Roseville and Gordon were also turned into retirement units.
Herron Todd White valuations expert John Price said other bowls clubs across the city were seeking guidance on how much their properties were worth to developers.
Many were eyeing out development opportunities, with some form of retained bowling facilities, as a way to boost club finances, he said.
“The land holdings can be extensive in some cases and rezoning has made the land more viable for alternative uses,” Mr Price said.
Waverley Bowling club, which will be redeveloped. Picture: John Appleyard
An artist’s impression of The Langlee by Mirvac, set to be built on the site of the Waverley Bowling Club.
He added that clubs more likely to accept the developer dollars had often struggled to attract new members for years and had challenges staying financially afloat.
Selling their land would mean a cash injection and, in some cases, shared ownership of some of the retained bowls facilities through strata arrangements.
“Bowling greens can be expensive to maintain and you also need a threshold of membership,” Mr Price said. “It’s always been a challenge for clubs to keep the core as bowling, but run a profit.”
Caringbah Bowling Club president Barbara Clemson said members were “happy” about their club’s redevelopment as it meant a better chance of preserving at least some bowls facilities on the site.
Lane Cove bowling club was slatted for redevelopment.
The land will become part of the Caringbah Green development, which includes units in buildings seven to eight stories high.
Adam Martinez, development manager at Landmark, the real estate group behind the redevelopment, said his company was in “regular dialogue” with other clubs about new projects.
“Bowling club sites offer unique opportunities,” he said, adding that Caringbah was an appealing location for new developments, but there was a shortage of land for building.
Stuart Penklis, head of residential at Mirvac, which will develop the Waverley site, said bowling clubs offered many advantages as new housing estates.
“Bowling clubs have served as popular neighbourhood community hubs for generations,” he said.
“A number of bowling greens (are) in … places where there is high demand, few opportunities for new housing, and proximity to existing infrastructure.”