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Private clubs are pre-selling membership at scale before opening, treating access as a scarce asset class rather than a local amenity.
12 to 18 months
ahead of operational capacity
$10 million to $15 million
in membership fees before certificate of occupancy
$50,000-plus
annual dues without attrition
The Court Club, a racquet-focused property near West Palm Beach, and Stonethrow, a family-oriented compound, have collectively signed hundreds of members before finishing construction. Neither property has opened. Both are taking deposits now.
The Court Club positions itself around paddle tennis and pickleball with tiered membership starting near $35,000 initiation. Stonethrow targets multi-generational families with bundled amenities including pools, dining, and youth programming. Standard private club development usually launches membership campaigns three to six months before ribbon-cutting. These two properties are running waitlists 12 to 18 months ahead of operational capacity. The deposits are not reversible in most structures. Members are committing capital to floor plans and architectural renderings.
This matters because it confirms a structural shift in how high-net-worth households are allocating discretionary spend. The velocity is new. Private clubs historically relied on proximity: you join after you move, after your children start school, after you test the restaurant. Now families are locking in access to nonexistent amenities as a hedge against future exclusion. The behavior mirrors what single-family offices did with Aman residences in 2021 and 2022—buying into branded real estate before concrete was poured because scarcity was obvious and the window was narrow. Clubs are now running the same playbook. They are pre-selling a guaranteed position in a social network, not just a tennis court.
The implications for luxury hospitality development are direct. If clubs can move $10 million to $15 million in membership fees before certificate of occupancy, hotel developers with members-only wings or branded residence components should expect the same. It also reframes competition. Clubs are no longer competing with other clubs. They are competing with private aviation memberships, hotel loyalty status, and allocation in oversubscribed wine programs—all of which offer positional goods that appreciate through restricted access. The families writing these checks are not joining clubs to play tennis. They are buying optionality in markets where optionality is becoming expensive.
Operators should watch how these properties manage waitlists once they open. If The Court Club or Stonethrow successfully converts waitlist members into $50,000-plus annual dues without attrition, the pre-opening deposit model will become standard. If they struggle to fill rosters or see early churn, it signals the deposits were speculative and the model collapses. Either outcome will be visible by late 2025. Allocators should also track whether established clubs in adjacent markets—Palm Beach, Jupiter, Delray—begin offering early-bird rejoining incentives to former members. That would confirm they are feeling pressure from these newer properties.
The Court Club and Stonethrow are not selling tennis. They are selling the certainty of a seat at a table that may not exist in three years if you wait.
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