Deeds and Weeds

Results for December 2009 Back to Deeds and Weeds Index

Two More Courses Under Trump's Tree

Thursday, December 24, 2009 Comments
Pine Hill.jpgDonald Trump bought himself an early Christmas present yesterday, acquiring a pair of golf courses. They are the private Branton Woods in Hopewell Junction, N.Y, and the public Pine Hill Golf Club, a Tom Fazio-designed course that's adjacent to the famous Pine Valley Golf Club in Pine Hill, N.J.

Big surprise—he's changing their names! Effective immediately, Branton Woods will be known as Trump National Golf Club - Hudson Valley, New York, and Pine Hill will be Trump National Golf Club - Philadelphia. Quoting from the Trump press release: "Both courses will be operated by The Trump Organization as high-end ultra-luxury private clubs."

Trump did not disclose his purchase price for either.

The acquisitions bring to 11 the total number of golf courses owned by Trump. His most recent purchases include the former Lowes Island Golf Club outside Washington, D.C..

Here's a link to an article in today's Poughkeepsie Journal with some more details on the Branton Woods deal.

-- P.F.
 






Posted by Peter Finch
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Grenelefe Back on the Market

Thursday, December 17, 2009 Comments
Florida's Grenelefe Golf & Tennis Resort, once the crown jewel of the Tampa market but now fallen on hard times due to the struggling real estate market and damages inflicted by Hurricane Charley in 2004, is for sale. Details in this article in the Tampa Bay Business Journal.

Grenelefe is currently owned by Westgate Resorts, one of the biggest companies in the time-share industry, which bought it at foreclosure five years ago. A recent deal to sell the property for $50 million fell through, and according to the story, Westgate doesn't expect to fetch anywhere near that amount this time.

"They're looking for fair market price," a real estate analyst told Tampa Bay Business Journal.

-- G.R.
Posted by Geoff Russell
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'Best New' Course Struggles

Tuesday, December 15, 2009 Comments
15.jpgCited as one Golf Digest's Best New Courses in 2007, White Horse Golf Club outside Seattle has been taken over by its lender, American Marine Bank, the Kitsap (Wash.) Sun reports.

The bank is looking for a broker to sell the course and 159 undeveloped residential lots on Bainbridge Island. Bankruptcy documents show the community had $5.9 million in unpaid principal, interest and taxes, the paper says.

White Horse shut its doors for a few days in November, before American Marine Bank hired Touchstone Golf to step in and start running the course again.

The course was designed by Cynthia Dye McGarey, niece of Pete Dye, and offers wide views of Puget Sound and the nearby mountains. It was No. 8 among America's Best New Public Courses Under $75 in 2007.

-- P.F.

 
Posted by Peter Finch
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Trouble in West Palm

Tuesday, December 15, 2009 Comments
Ironhorse CC.JPGWest Palm Beach's Ironhorse Country Club, which spent about $3.5 million renovating its Arthur Hills-designed course three years ago, is in hot water financially and may have to sell to private investors, the Palm Beach Post is reporting.

The potential investors include Thomas O'Malley, an oilman who recently acquired the nearby Evergreen Golf Club and Palm Cove Golf Club.

Ironhorse's bylaws call for up to 350 members but at present it has about 200, the Post says. Annual dues for a full membership cost $5,900 for a family and $5,400 for an individual. The Ironhorse community has 325 homes ranging in price from the $300,000s to $1 million.

-- P.F.


Posted by Peter Finch
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Misery For Moguls

Sunday, December 6, 2009 Comments
anguilla-golf-course-19.jpgMonday's Wall Street Journal has a feature on Robert Sillerman, famous as a wheeler-dealer of media properties, and his apparently very unhappy foray into the resort business. He's the developer of Temenos, intended as a splashy playground for the wealthy on Anguilla in the British West Indies.

The resort, only partially built, is out of money. Sillerman tells the Journal he expects to lose his entire $180 million investment in the project. Its Greg Norman-designed golf course (pictured) has shut down.

The article describes a handful of other big resort developments that are a) backed by business tycoons and b) struggling financially. Among the personalities: Dell Inc. founder Michael Dell (Four Seasons Hualalai in Hawaii), Beanie Baby founder Ty Warner (Four Seasons in New York and San Ysidro Ranch in California, among others), EBay founder Pierre Omidyar (Montage Resorts in California and soon to be in Utah), and Microsoft's Bill Gates (Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts and Terranea Resort in southern California).

"I think that I exhibited an element of hubris," Sillerman tells the Journal. Resort development "was not my area of expertise by any stretch of the imagination."

-- P.F.










Posted by Peter Finch
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