The Pellucid Perspective - October 2021 - 12

COMINGS
& GOINGS
Special Situations Abound!
C
ontinuing true to COVID-era form, we tracked 19
activities this past month with Transactions/For Sales
comprising 12 of them (followed by 4 redevelopments,
2 Auctions and 1 Closing/Swap for those of you keeping score
at home). I'll let you scan the table for the details because there
are several special situations (none of them making our list) I
want to touch on here.
In the " only in NY " category, what do you get when you
mix Donald Trump, Democratic NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio
and shady special interest companies? You get the soon-tobe
Netflix special (kidding) called Trump Golf Links at Ferry
Point saga. So de Blasio retracts the remaining 13 year contract
to operate the course from the Trump Organization due
to the 1/6 disturbance in DC and awards it to...Ferry Point
Links. Which, it turns out, has no golf operations experience
and appears to be tied to CORE Community Services which
has in the past been a significant provider of homeless services
tied to the policies of, wait for it, Mayor de Blasio. I get
that one might want to distance themselves from the Trump
organization but that's an interesting new operator twist and
despite of the fact that you know these events are going to be
under a public and political microscope.
In other news, there's a 5 course public portfolio being
shopped in Columbus, OH for $18M. Based on the select financial
figures released, it looks like they're trying to time the
upswing in golf with trailing 12 revenue of $12.9M (up from
initial release showing $12.0M) and EBITDA improving
Golf's landscape changes
Event
Course
Closed
Mallard Cove
Golf Course
[Mallard Golf
Club at Morgan
Field]
Shadow Mountain
Golf Club
Peninsula Golf
Club
Transacted/
For Sale
Auburn Valley
Golf Club
Hilltop GC
SacramentoStocktonModesto
CA
Pub/18
Manchester, NH Pub/18
DMA
from $2.7M to $3.1M in the latest posting (no price change
though) or an improvement in the EBIDTA multiple from
6.8x to 5.8x. Will be interesting to see how this transacts and
it will provide some benchmarks for portfolio sales in '21 and
beyond.
In the " what plays in Vegas, stays in Vegas " vein, Atomic
Range is coming to Sin City, a $70M Golf-Entertainment
venue brought to you by Golden Entertainment and Flite
Golf & Entertainment.
It's basically another variation on
the TopGolf theme; Century Golf is their golf-experienced
partner so at least they're not trying to just " wing " the golf
portion of it. It looks like Vegas development is betting on
the post-COVID recovery as we also saw an article about a
planned hotel which is a scaled version of the moon replete
with a lunar surface experience on the top floor for...$500 for
a 30 minute " walk. " If you're going to take that size a gamble,
no better place than Vegas, right?
Finally a story about an epic reversal-of-fortune for the
Yale Golf Course which went from being quietly and unexpectedly
shuttered coming out of COVID (yes, " out of " )
to the announcement of a $15M renovation by none other
than Gil Hanse with an additional fundraise of $10M toward
future maintenance. Only in the Ivy League could one go
from death's doorstep to salad days (green everywhere) inside
3 months. Let's see if Dartmouth's course woes get a similar
lift in that word travels fast among those schools and alums
hate to be outdone.
Type/Holes Summary
Lake Charles LA Pub/18
Land swap with Chennault Int'l(?) Airport.
Chennault City will pay $6.6M to build a new
course at new location + $15K/mo for 20 yrs
for operating costs. New course planning soft
opening 10/21, operated by Sterling Golf (TX
operator)
Palm Springs CA Pub/18
New York NY
Pub/9
New owner local monied philanthropist Lindi Biggi
& 2 children, committed to golf operations for 10
years and then anyone's guess. Touchstone Golf
to help her attempt the turnaround
Richard Schaub, owner of Great American
Properties has offered to purchase, town
threatening eminent domain proceeding if he
doesn't commit to ongoing golf operations;
municipal meddling? Schaub has promised to
operate as golf as concession for transaction at
current terms
Back on market at $2.5M after transacting in '19
@ $2.2M, 2nd property on market currently in
Sacramento, something in the water?
Owner Annie Card putting on market, retiring fm
golf (since '17?), land owned by MacDowell a nonprofit
arts org, seeking local, community-based
buyer
12 The Pellucid PersPecTive
OctOber 2021
The Pellucid Perspective - October 2021

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