The Majors Golf Club in the heart of Bayside Lakes has been in the news quite a bit lately. I ventured out to get a firsthand look. Let’s just say it no longer looks like an Arnold Palmer masterpiece.
Closed since 2022, the 177-acre site has spent the last few years reverting to wild Florida brush while neighbors and developers argue over its future.
When the Port Malabar Country Club Golf Course in Northeast Palm Bay closed in 2004, city code enforcement required the owner to periodically mow the course to prevent it from becoming an overgrown fire and safety hazard. Turning the corner toward the back of the Majors clubhouse, I expected to see at least some semblance of a golf course. I was wrong.
The current owners, Joy LLC, wanted to turn the site into a master-planned housing development called “Eden at Bayside Lakes,” featuring roughly 460 residential units. Thousands of neighbors petitioned to stop the project.
At the recent August 6, 2026 Palm Bay City Council meeting, the city threw down a legal and financial gauntlet to save the open space.
Between the neighborhood, the city, the developer, and the threat of eminent domain—plus taxpayer dollars on the line—there’s a lot to unscramble.
The Backyard Squeeze
What makes the Eden at Bayside Lakes master plan so controversial isn’t just the sheer number of roofs—it’s the geography. Because the Majors layout was a championship centerpiece course, its fairways wind like a maze directly through the backyards of established subdivisions.
Building “Eden” means dropping 460 new homes right up against the property lines of existing homeowners who bought their properties expecting golf course views.
The Pivot: Following the neighborhood pushback, the Palm Bay City Council flipped the script by voting 5-0 to step in and try to buy 135 acres of the land to build a regional park, trail loops, and deep-injection stormwater infrastructure.
The Math: $7M vs. $10M
The city commissioned an independent appraisal, which valued the land at exactly $7,030,000.
The developer, Joy LLC, shot back with a counter-demand: $10 million. Their argument? They’ve spent years paying for engineering, environmental, and traffic studies for their own proposed 460-home development, “Eden at Bayside Lakes”.
But local residents who showed up to speak aren’t buying it. Joy LLC bought the entire course for just $2.1 million in 2021. To the neighbors watching the property overgrow, handing the developer a near-$3 million premium above appraisal felt like a terrible deal for Palm Bay taxpayers.
The Illegal “Poison Pill”
The standoff isn’t just about the price tag, though. Joy LLC slipped a contingency into their $10 million proposal: Paragraph 4.
The clause stated that Joy LLC would sell the 135 acres for the park, but only if the city guaranteed multi-family zoning changes on the remaining 53 acres they are keeping. If the city denied the apartments, the developer could walk away from the park deal entirely.
City Attorney Patricia Smith killed that idea immediately. Under Florida law, “contract zoning” is completely illegal. A city cannot trade future zoning favors behind closed doors to close a real estate deal.
What Happens Now?
The City Council didn’t just reject the $10 million demand—they went on the offensive.
In a unanimous 5-0 vote, the council authorized a hard counter-offer:
Pay the exact $7,030,000 appraised value—not a penny more.
Completely delete the Paragraph 4 zoning loophole.
Add strict deed covenants prohibiting any multi-family housing on the developer’s remaining acreage.
The Ultimate Ultimatum: If Joy LLC rejects this offer, the city has officially directed the City Attorney to initiate formal eminent domain condemnation proceedings.
The only question left is whether the developer takes the city’s check willingly, or if they fight it out in court.
A Familiar Story
If this saga sounds familiar, it’s because we’ve seen this script play out in Palm Bay before. I recently wrote about the steady disappearance of the old Port Malabar Country Club Golf Course behind my own house, which ultimately lost its battle to developers and is already in the final phase of construction.
While the bulldozers have already won in northeast Palm Bay, Bayside Lakes is still fighting the fight.
— Nathan
From Fairways to Garage Doors: The Changing Face of the Port Malabar Golf Course
Quick Disclaimer: Information and images in this article are not guaranteed to be accurate. I do my best to research the topics and visit the areas in person, but sometimes information can be conflicting, misleading, or outdated. I’ll make corrections as soon as I learn more.
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