By the FL Innovation News editorial team · Entrepreneurship
Following his revitalization announcement for the resort and his recent Florida Innovation essay on the wave of course closures reshaping the state, this profile looks at the path that brought a Tampa investor to one of Florida’s overlooked communities and why he now calls it the most meaningful project of his career. After building and selling businesses across healthcare, construction, real estate, and private lending, Tampa entrepreneur Joel Schachter thought he understood what made an investment worthwhile. Then he found Sebring International Golf Resort.
What began as a distressed financing opportunity in 2021 ultimately became something much bigger: a mission to preserve a vital community asset that thousands of residents depend on. Schachter first became involved with the property when its previous ownership sought assistance refinancing a defaulted mortgage. As an a private lender, he initially approached the situation as a business transaction. But the more time he spent at the resort and in the surrounding Spring Lake community, the more his perspective changed.
“Originally, I saw it as a lending opportunity,” Schachter said. “But the more time I spent there, the more I realized this was bigger than a transaction. There was a real community built around this place, and it deserved someone willing to invest in its future.”
What Schachter discovered was that Sebring International Golf Resort was more than a golf course. For many residents, it served as a gathering place, a source of community pride, and an important part of the area’s identity since its inception around 1980. As years of deferred maintenance and operational uncertainty threatened the property’s future, residents worried they could lose something that could not be replaced and would forever change the perception and direction of Spring Lake.
By 2025, Schachter had assumed active ownership and began focusing on restoring stability to the property. Rather than trying to reinvent the community, he spent time listening to residents, learning the history of Spring Lake, and understanding what people valued most.
“I wasn’t interested in coming in and changing Spring Lake into something it’s not,” Schachter said. “My goal was to listen first, understand what residents cared about, and focus on bringing stability back to something that had gone through many years of uncertainty.”
Since taking a more active role, Schachter has invested in operational improvements, established a board of advisors and community representatives, and worked to rebuild trust among residents. He continues to split his time between Tampa and Sebring, remaining actively involved in the property’s future.
His work at Sebring comes at a time when golf communities across Florida face growing uncertainty. As redevelopment pressures increase and operating a course at a high level requires widespread community support, many communities are grappling with what happens if a golf course closes. Schachter believes these properties are often viewed too narrowly as real estate assets, when in reality they serve as community infrastructure that supports neighborhoods, recreation, and quality of life.
That belief has shaped his long term vision for Sebring International Golf Resort. While many investors focus on maximizing returns, Schachter has increasingly focused on leaving a legacy by preserving and substantially improving what already exists.
He sees Spring Lake as one of Florida’s overlooked treasures, a community that offers affordability, outdoor recreation, and a strong sense of connection that is becoming harder to find across the state. His goal is not only to improve “a golf course”, but to help ensure the community surrounding it continues to thrive for generations to come.
For Schachter, success is no longer measured solely by financial returns. It is measured by whether a place that matters to thousands of people can endure. After decades of building businesses, he may have found his most meaningful investment in a small Florida community that many people have simply overlooked.
