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Cher's Hualalai Home Sells for $8.7 Million

Saturday, January 23, 2010 Comments
The entertainer Cher sold her house on the golf course of the Hualalai Resort on the Big Island of Hawaii this week, and she didn't do too badly.

The house -- on .75 acres, with 8,800 square feet, six bedrooms and a view of the Jack Nicklaus designed layout (which is hosting this week's Champions Tour event, the Mitsubishi Electric Championship) and the Pacific Ocean -- sold for $8.7 million. Reports had it valued at between $8 and $12 million.

The Honolulu Advertiser has the story here.

-- G.R.
Posted by Geoff Russell
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Chambers Bay Getting Hotel, Clubhouse?

Thursday, January 21, 2010 Comments
Washington's Chambers Bay is hosting the 2015 U.S. Open (and before that, the 2011 U.S. Amateur), so there is no time like the present to build a proper clubhouse, hotel and other accoutrements the place will need to host a big-time event.

James Burkhouse is a former University Place, Wash., resident, who as a youth played on the beach near the gravel mine that eventually became the site of Chambers Bay. He is now president of Ventur-Hospitality, a hotel and resort development company based in Bruno, Calif., that has the contract to build a clubhouse, a hotel, a retail center and other facilities at Chambers Bay. Burkhouse is still trying to secure financing for the project.

The Tacoma News-Tribune has a story about Burkhouse and the Chambers Bay project here.

-- G.R.
Posted by Geoff Russell
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Byron Nelson Championship Site Faces Foreclosure

Wednesday, January 13, 2010 Comments
The Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas -- better known to this audience as the home of the PGA Tour's HP Byron Nelson Championship -- was the subject of a foreclosure filing today in Dallas.

According to reports, the facility's creditor, U.S. Bank NA, "is seeking repayment of a $183 million loan on the property" from the resort's owner, Los Angeles-based BentleyForbes, "and has scheduled a forced sale on Feb. 2."

The Dallas Morning News called the foreclosure filing "the largest in North Texas in more than 20 years." The newspaper's story on the filing is here. The Dallas Business Journal's report is here.

Of course -- as in many foreclosure and bankruptcy proceedings -- three words are being used to describe the activity at the facility in question: business as usual.

"We do not expect any change in our day-to-day operations or services," Las Colinas Four Seasons general manager Michael Newcombe told the Dallas Morning News. "We are proud of the nearly $60 million in improvements that our owners have made to our property over the past two years."

-- G.R.
Posted by Geoff Russell
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No New Course For Monterey Peninsula

Wednesday, January 6, 2010 Comments
There will be no new golf course built on the Monterey Peninsula. That's the result of a new plan adopted by the Pebble Beach Co. after a previous development proposal was rejected by the California Coastal Commission two years ago.

The San Jose Mercury-News has the story here.

In 2000, voters adopted a ballot measure that proposed significant development of land on the Monterey Peninsula, including another golf course to join Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill, et al. But seven years later, the coastal commission defeated the measure, which sent the Pebble Beach Co. back to the drawing board. 

According to the Mercury-News, "Opponents [of the 2000 plan] said the development would destroy up to 18,000 Monterey pines, and commission staff members said it was at odds with coastal policies to protect environmentally sensitive habitat. The new plan calls for a small hotel with up to 100 homes at the old Spyglass quarry; 80 new rooms at the Lodge at Pebble Beach and 60 new rooms at the Inn at Spanish Bay; and 90 single-family homes."

In a statement, Pebble Beach Co. chief executive Bill Perocchi said, "The commission staff and Pebble Beach Co. have been working to develop a project we could both support. ... We are very pleased that, together, we have been able to achieve that goal."

-- G.R.
Posted by Geoff Russell
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Arizona Update: 'Getting Hit From All Sides'

Wednesday, January 6, 2010 Comments
The Arizona Republic starts the new year with an update on the overall golf market in Phoenix and the surrounding suburbs. In summary: golf course owners and developers aren't noticing any rebound, at least not yet. Some, uh, highlights:

Many private clubs have opened their courses to the public, even for just one or two days a week, in an effort to increase rounds and revenue.

Many facilities are negotiating green fees. One golfer talks about having played the Arizona Biltmore for $55, and guesses it would have cost him twice that much a year ago.

Arizona officials estimate that "only" 5 percent of the state's approximately 340 golf facilities are in dire economic condition, compared to 15 percent nationally.

The story said there were no golf course residential developments opened in Arizona in 2009 -- startling news (economic troubles notwithstanding) considering how "white hot" the state's golf market was as recently as five years ago.

You can read the complete story here.

-- G.R.


Posted by Geoff Russell
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'People Are Cutting Golf Out of Their Diets"

Monday, November 23, 2009 Comments
Roger Vincent had a story in Sunday's Los Angeles Times about the difficult state of the golf course and golf real estate business in this country. Having read a similar version of this story more than once in the last 12 months, I would say there wasn't a lot that was new here, other than an update on where we are with course closures in the U.S. in 2009 (114 through September, according to Vincent and the National Golf Foundation, offset by 44 course openings).

Still, it's a worthwhile read, since it pulls together all of the relevant statistics and details about the struggling golf business, as well as focuses specifically on the Southern California market. Imagine, for instance, being able to buy a Los Angeles area country club of $6.5 million (as Vincent reports of Chevy Chase CC in Glendale)? You couldn't get a bathroom in Malibu so cheap...

-- G.R.
Posted by Geoff Russell
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At Doonbeg, Business is Up

Wednesday, September 30, 2009 Comments
Doonbeg is bucking the trend.

In a tough year for the travel industry in general -- and golf resorts in particular -- officials at the luxury golf property in Ireland (which features a much acclaimed Greg Norman-designed golf course) released some very strong business numbers this week: rounds played are up 1,500 in 2009 compared to 2008, and overnight stays have increased between 45 and 50 percent.

How did Doonbeg pull off these kind of improvement in the teeth of a recession? The old-fashioned way: It lowered prices. On room rates. On golf packages. On membership deals.

Ireland's Sunday Business Post has the complete story on Doonbeg's strategy, and its results, here.

"Obviously rates are down, but we are still bringing people into the resort during the recession," Doonbeg's general manager, Joe Russell, told the Post. "The key thing now is value, and we have altered our offering and introduced more offers and more deals. The result is that we have remained very busy, albeit at a reduced margin."

-- G.R.
Posted by Geoff Russell
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Makena Resort to Remain Open

Friday, September 4, 2009 Comments
Last week, we passed along a report about the troubles at Makena Resort in Maui: Investors who had bought the resort two years ago with plans for a 15-year, $800 million development, are now in default on their $192.5 million mortgage.

Thursday, Pacific Business News had an update on the situation. According to this story, a new management company (so far unidentified) will take over the operation of the resort, which includes the Maui Prince Hotel and Makena golf course. According to Barry Sullivan, a spokesman for Wells Fargo Bank, which holds the note on the mortgage, both the hotel and the golf course will remain open for business.

"The threat of closing has disappeared," Sullivan told Pacific Business News. "We are confident there will be a smooth transition to the new resort management company."

-- G.R.

Posted by Geoff Russell
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Skibo Castle Goes Into the Red

Friday, August 21, 2009 Comments
Skibo Castle, the lavish private golf club and sporting retreat near Dornoch, Scotland -- once part of the private club empire of Peter de Savary and probably best known for hosting Madonna's 2000 wedding to film director Guy Ritchie -- is now losing money, according to this story in The Herald. The cause, of course, is the recession and its effects on the economy, particularly the high-end travel and resort industry, in which Skibo Castle resides.

According to the article, "[Skibo Castle] ... posted an operating loss of £13,000 for the year to the end of March, compared with an underlying profit of £169,000 the year before. At the pre-tax level, the situation grew even more bleak, as losses deepened to £1.03m, compared with a loss of £648,000 last time."

In 2007 Skibo claimed to have reached its membership goal of 500, each of whom paid £23,000 to join, plus annual dues of £7,000. But according to The Herald story, Skibo is accepting applications for membership, indicating it is operating at less than capacity. The story also says Skibo's currently has 183 full- and part-time employees, about 20 below normal levels. 

Skibo's general manager, Peter Crome, wouldn't comment on the facility's financial state, but insisted the long-term outlook for Skibo Castle remains rosy. "In spite of the challenging environment -- and we expect this current year to be challenging also -- we are quite confident about the future," he told The Herald. "We're carrying on happily."

-- G.R.
Posted by Geoff Russell
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New Resort Community Opens in Monterey

Thursday, August 6, 2009 Comments
It's been quiet on the new golf development front lately. Until today.

The former Fort Ord courses on the Monterey Peninsula, Bayonet and Black Horse, were recently re-opened after a $14 million renovation -- a good friend of ours played the Bayonet last week and said it was terrific -- and now comes word that a resort and residential neighborhood that is part of the project is set to open.

The Enclave at Cypress Grove is a 400-acre planned community that will eventually include homes, condominiums and a 330-room resort and spa. The first phase of the development is a parcel of 29 homesites, which have just been released for sale. Details are in this release here.

We wish them luck. Maybe they won't need it -- Monterey is Monterey, after all -- but it can't hurt.

-- G.R.

Posted by Geoff Russell
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