Golf Inc - April 2008 - (Page 38)

FROM A favorable exchange rate and a national passion for golf are sparking a surge of Korean investment in golf course ownership in the U.S. By Jim Dunlap t might be smart for U.S. golf course owners with a “For Sale” sign on their property to list the sale price in South Korea’s currency — won — as well as dollars. Buoyed by the favorable exchange rate of South Korea’s won against the dollar and by an unabashed love of golf, Korean investors are snapping up American courses at a pace not seen since the flood of Japanese investors in the late 1980s and early ’90s. “Korean buyers represent about 64 percent of the [golf course] purchases in the last five years in Southern California,” said Jeff Woolson of CB Richard Ellis. Woolson, whose firm has brokered a number of such sales, said that eight of 11 major Southern California golf course sales in 2007 involved Korean buyers. According to sales figures compiled by CB Richard Ellis, 23 of 40 golf course property transactions in Southern California between 2003 and the end of 2007 involved Korean nationals, Korean-Americans or a syndicate combining both groups as buyers. Two others, The Links at Victoria in Carson, Calif., and Whittier Narrows in Whittier, Calif., involved assumptions of operating leases. And Southern California is not the only U.S. market drawing attention from Korean investors. Korean-American Dennis Lee, a long-time U.S. course owner, owns both Tour 18-Dallas in Flower Mound, Texas, and The Trails of Frisco in Frisco, Texas. KoreanAmerican-owned Jamison Properties owns two properties in the Las Vegas market. Korean investors also own East Coast properties in the Atlantic City, N. J., and New York markets. Those concentrations of properties are not coincidental. Korean investors tend to gravitate toward golf course markets where there are large population concentrations of Korean-Americans. “You can look directly at demo graphics,” said Ken Arimitsu, broker with Orange County, Calif.-based Grubb & Ellis Co., who recently brokered the sale of Shea Homes’ Trilogy Golf Club at Glen Ivy in Corona, Calif., to South Korean investment firm FX Global Investment for $10 million. “The largest populations of Koreans are in Los Angeles and Orange County. There are less than 500 courses in Korea proper, and the closest [U.S.] places to Korea are Hawaii and Southern California.” 38 Golf Inc. April 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Golf Inc - April 2008

Golf Inc - April 2008 Contents Editors Column Birney Takes NGCOA Helm Construction Costs on the Rise KemperSports Adds 14 Courses Americas: Fazio Designs St. Kitts Layout Europe/Africa: Seaside Resort Planned in Egypt Asia/Australis: Faldo Opens New Chinese Course High-Tech Tools: New Technologies that can Help Operators There's No Economic Slump at Still-Popular Reynolds Plantation Tim Moraghan Wants to Make Golf Fun Again Why a $1.5 Billion Resort has Made Environmental Protection a Top Priority Most Admired Operators Marketing Experts Make Their Pitch for Golf Courses From Korea, with Cash Last Word

Golf Inc - April 2008

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