Private Bids Placed On Pair Of Florida Golf Courses In Seminole
Private investors have made offers on two of three struggling Seminole County golf courses in Florida, weeks after county leaders said they might buy the sites to keep them from being developed into housing.
An investment group behind four apartment-to-condominium conversions near Sabal Point Country Club is close to buying the Florida golf course. Carlos Balzola and Luis Alonzo met with community residents this week and asked for their views on how to revive the once-thriving facility.
Another group, which owns and operates five golf courses in Central Florida, made an offer for Twin Rivers Golf Club in Oviedo on Wednesday.
Details of the offers were not disclosed. But the two courses, as well as Winter Springs Golf Club, are on the market as a group for $7.275 million by Banc of America Strategic Solutions Inc. Twin Rivers and Winter Springs remain open; Banc of America closed Sabal Point earlier this year, prompting the county's announcement.
Chad Barton, who along with Bob Dello Russo owns Country Club of Deer Run, Casselberry Golf Club, Wekiva Golf Club, the Country Club of Mount Dora and Rock Springs Ridge Golf Club, confirmed Thursday that they had bid on Twin Rivers.
Barton and Dello Russo plan to meet with Oviedo City Manager Gerald Seeber next week, Barton said.
"We want to know what the city's position is with regards to [reclaimed] water for the Florida golf course," he said. "We also would like to see what the golf course means to the city."
Barton vowed to quickly improve the course.
Residents in Sabal Point are eager to bring that Florida golf course back to top form as well. What is unclear is how far they are willing to go to make it successful.
Some have suggested a community assessment, though the largest homeowners association said there is little support for that.
"There are a lot of people in the community concerned about costs," said Wayne Hunicke, president of the 800-member Sabal Point Community Services Association. "There are lots of people here on fixed incomes."
But there also is a strong core of about 200 homeowners who live along the 18-hole Florida golf course and would support the course, he said. Condo buyers also may be willing to pay for country-club memberships, Hunicke said.
In Winter Springs, the initial draft of a feasibility study commissioned by the city suggests the golf club there could make money in as little as five years.
The study, by National Golf Foundation Consulting, found the market could support a lower-priced municipal Florida golf course. But it also found that Winter Springs Golf Club showed a steady decline in the number of rounds played from 2003 to 2005.
The analysis concludes the course could make money by 2010 if rounds and membership levels rebound. It also assumes the city would not pay more than $1.2 million for the course and could finance the purchase over 30 years at 6.5 percent interest.
A memorandum from City Manager Ron McLemore warns that the study's assumptions are overly optimistic and don't take into account $650,000 in needed upgrades.
City officials won't decide how to proceed with the Florida golf courses until the final feasibility study is completed later this spring.
An investment group behind four apartment-to-condominium conversions near Sabal Point Country Club is close to buying the Florida golf course. Carlos Balzola and Luis Alonzo met with community residents this week and asked for their views on how to revive the once-thriving facility.
Another group, which owns and operates five golf courses in Central Florida, made an offer for Twin Rivers Golf Club in Oviedo on Wednesday.
Details of the offers were not disclosed. But the two courses, as well as Winter Springs Golf Club, are on the market as a group for $7.275 million by Banc of America Strategic Solutions Inc. Twin Rivers and Winter Springs remain open; Banc of America closed Sabal Point earlier this year, prompting the county's announcement.
Chad Barton, who along with Bob Dello Russo owns Country Club of Deer Run, Casselberry Golf Club, Wekiva Golf Club, the Country Club of Mount Dora and Rock Springs Ridge Golf Club, confirmed Thursday that they had bid on Twin Rivers.
Barton and Dello Russo plan to meet with Oviedo City Manager Gerald Seeber next week, Barton said.
"We want to know what the city's position is with regards to [reclaimed] water for the Florida golf course," he said. "We also would like to see what the golf course means to the city."
Barton vowed to quickly improve the course.
Residents in Sabal Point are eager to bring that Florida golf course back to top form as well. What is unclear is how far they are willing to go to make it successful.
Some have suggested a community assessment, though the largest homeowners association said there is little support for that.
"There are a lot of people in the community concerned about costs," said Wayne Hunicke, president of the 800-member Sabal Point Community Services Association. "There are lots of people here on fixed incomes."
But there also is a strong core of about 200 homeowners who live along the 18-hole Florida golf course and would support the course, he said. Condo buyers also may be willing to pay for country-club memberships, Hunicke said.
In Winter Springs, the initial draft of a feasibility study commissioned by the city suggests the golf club there could make money in as little as five years.
The study, by National Golf Foundation Consulting, found the market could support a lower-priced municipal Florida golf course. But it also found that Winter Springs Golf Club showed a steady decline in the number of rounds played from 2003 to 2005.
The analysis concludes the course could make money by 2010 if rounds and membership levels rebound. It also assumes the city would not pay more than $1.2 million for the course and could finance the purchase over 30 years at 6.5 percent interest.
A memorandum from City Manager Ron McLemore warns that the study's assumptions are overly optimistic and don't take into account $650,000 in needed upgrades.
City officials won't decide how to proceed with the Florida golf courses until the final feasibility study is completed later this spring.
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