Building Tension

For more than a century, hamilton hall has stood guard over the 18th green of the Old Course at St. Andrews. One of the game's most photographed landmarks, the imposing structure next to the R&A clubhouse has provided backdrop for 19 British Open finishes, not to mention the Academy Award-winning film "Chariots of Fire."

As the European Tour prepared to visit the Old Course this week for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, there was little doubt TV cameras would capture Hamilton Hall's Victorian splendor framing the storied links. But panoramic footage is unlikely to reveal the building's recent deterioration.

Hamilton Hall's iconic façade is marred by broken windows and peeling trim paint. And the back of the building looks even worse. Surveying the scene Sept. 8, Golf World discovered many windows and doors missing, leaving some areas of the building's gutted interior unprotected from the Scottish elements. The remaining windows appeared filthy, and the floors visible from outside were strewn with bricks and dirt. Considerable amounts of construction debris and garbage littered the property.

Hamilton Hall's current state is a far cry from the vision promised by its owner, Wasserman Real Estate Capital LLC, a Providence, R.I., development firm that bought the building from St. Andrews University for £20 million (about $40 million) in 2006. A 40-year-old developer of retail, mixed-use and residential properties, the firm planned to transform the old dormitory into a luxury residence club called St. Andrews Grand that would open in mid-2008 and count Phil Mickelson among the members paying a seven-figure sum for a share in one of 23 lavishly appointed apartments.

But those plans have been abandoned, and as St. Andrews looks toward the Open's slated return to the Old Course in 2010, locals are speculating about Hamilton Hall's future and expressing concerns over its appearance. The public outcry is a prominent example of the conflict that has emerged in Scotland between local interests seeking to preserve the historic character of golf's birthplace and real-estate developers—including Donald Trump, who for two years has battled local officials over a plan to build a $2.1 billion golf resort along Scotland's northeast coast—looking for a piece of the country's lucrative golf tourism pie.

Aiming to attract wealthy travelers, St. Andrews Grand did not generate the interest Wasserman Real Estate Capital had hoped for, said David Wasserman, the firm's principal. "We had demand but not necessarily enough demand to carry the whole project through," he said. "We learned the market is not deep enough for fractional residences at that price point."

Wasserman Real Estate Capital is considering other options for the property, including marketing single-owner units, and has been talking to several potential capital partners about joining the venture, Wasserman added.

Asked if Hamilton Hall is for sale, Wasserman replied: "The building, from the day we bought it, has been for sale, hasn't it? We'll either develop it or sell it, that's our business. There's never been a for-sale sign on the building."

The talk in St. Andrews is that Herb Kohler, the plumbing-fixture magnate whose Kohler Co. owns the Old Course Hotel in St. Andrews, might be a player in subsequent development plans for Hamilton Hall. But the Kohler Co. is focused on launching its own residence club at the former Craigton Manor in

St. Andrews and has not talked to Wasserman Real Estate Capital about the Hamilton Hall project, said Scott Anderson, president of Kohler's hospitality and real estate group.

"[Hamilton Hall] is not something that would be on our radar screen right now," Anderson said. "We have not been approached."

Meanwhile, local officials have decried Hamilton Hall's condition. "We in St. Andrews have a responsibility to the heritage of the town, to that iconic view beyond the 18th green," said Ted Brocklebank, a member of Scottish Parliament representing Mid-Scotland and Fife. "If this particular developer is having difficulties for whatever reason, at least he should be trying to keep the place looking reasonably smart. He could at least wash the windows."