Bill McMahon, Sr. AIA, OAA
Founder
Bill is a strategic, financial and architectural planning consultant to clubs throughout North America. He established McMahon Group in 1983 as an affiliate of the family architectural firm his grandfather founded in 1906. Over the ensuing years, the firm has expanded its club consulting services beyond clubhouse improvement planning to a full range of services for all aspects of private club challenges. To date, the firm has assisted more than 2,000 private clubs across the United States, Canada, Asia, Europe and the Caribbean. McMahon Group provides a unique approach to developing club facility projects first establishing design and financial feasibility so membership approval is achieved. Thereafter final design and construction firms are selected to build the member approved project.
Mr. McMahon is unique among club consultants in providing an integrated strategic, financial and architectural approach to solving club problems. His personal involvement with his own clubs in St. Louis (serving in the roles of president, board member and committee member) has allowed him to bring unparalleled experience to each client. Mr. McMahon’s club memberships have included Bellerive Country Club (St. Louis), Racquet Club Ladue (St. Louis), University Club of St. Louis, Spring Lake Yacht Club (Michigan) and the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania.
Mr. McMahon is a graduate of Washington University School of Architecture in St. Louis and holds architecture licenses in 44 U.S. states and in Ontario, Canada. He is a featured author in industry publications and a featured speaker at the annual conferences of the Club Managers Association of America, the Canadian Society of Club Managers, the National Club Association and the Hospitality, Financial and Technology Professionals. He serves as a visiting lecturer at continuing education sessions offered by regional CMAA chapters and at Michigan State University. Bill is a co-author of McMahon Club Trends®, the comprehensive research reports on strategic issues facing private clubs published with the National Club Association. He is also founder of the Excellence in Club Management Award.
Mr. McMahon is a member of the American Institute of Architects, and the National Club Association. He is a former president of the Missouri Council of Architects, AIA and has served on various charitable boards in the St. Louis area.
Posts by Bill McMahon, Sr. AIA, OAA
Strategic Planning: Is it Just For Today, or Should it Shape the Future?
Strategic planning for private clubs is an ongoing, collaborative process that assesses the current state and envisions the future by focusing on members, offerings, quality, and market position, helping clubs remain relevant and competitive amid changing circumstances.
Read MoreThe Growing Importance of Wellness/Fitness for Attracting Members
Private club wellness and fitness are evolving, with larger clubs raising standards. Smaller clubs can stay competitive by offering wellness/fitness-only memberships to attract more members and boost revenue.
Read MoreMissouri Athletic Club: The City Club Success Story of the Year
After more than 120 years, the MAC remains the only full-service club serving men, women and families in the St. Louis area, having extended its reach to stretch beyond the city of St. Louis and now include suburban counties including Jefferson and St. Charles, as well as counties in southern Illinois.
Read MoreNew Clubhouse Brings New Life to Wilderness Country Club
Wilderness Country Club was founded in 1974, on land that had originally been developed 30 years earlier as a ranch and then had a golf course built on it in 1975. The club holds the distinction of being the first gated golf course community in Naples, Fla.—but as it approached the 2020 decade that would…
Read MoreAvoiding Shortcuts, and Shortsightedness, in Long-Range Planning
A shortsighted facility planning approach attempts to “solve” today’s facility problems by kicking the can down the road, only to create bigger and more expensive problems in the future.
Read MoreWhy Facility Planning Must Start With Strategic Planning
Avoid spending millions of dollars on knee-jerk reaction projects that are not in sync with the club’s membership needs.
Read MoreRacquet Sports Are Making the Difference in Private Club Success
You might say that pickleball changed everything in the racquet world. Why did pickleball become so popular?
Read MoreWhat’s Hot and What’s Not in Private Clubs
We are having some fun in playing a little game that looks at our private clubs and tries to see what direction they are going. The game is simply what is working and what is not as we continually try to improve our clubs. So here we go in what’s hot and what’s not.
Read MoreHow a Project Went From 53% Approval to 97% – The Club Pelican Bay Success Story
After an $11 million clubhouse project barely passed with an unpopular clubhouse plan, members voiced their concerns.
Read MoreThe Trump Presidency Potential – How It Will Help Our Clubs
Let’s use the Trump presidency to make our clubs better and more available to many more people. We now have a President who belongs to clubs, owns clubs and will support clubs.
Read MoreThe Kernwood Story (Doing it Right the First Time)
The Kernwood success story was achieved by following the tried-and-true path for developing and approving major club-improvement programs. No shortcuts were taken as the planning and approval process took two years to complete, and it will now take 18 months to finish the project
Read MoreThe McMahon Way For Assuring Club Facility Success
Never before has there been a greater need for good facility planning, as clubs are undertaking major facility projects all across North America. Be they renovations or new clubhouses, facilities need to be based on sound business planning and a club’s Mission of service to its members.
Read More