A golf course community near Athens has been sold at a huge discount, and the new owner vows to start building homes there again.
Located about 12 miles from Athens, the Georgia Club was bought for $10 million by Alvarez & Marsal Capital Real Estate in Los Angeles with KRE Capital of Beverly Hills, Calif. Development costs are believed to have exceeded $65 million.
The purchase includes a 27-hole golf course and clubhouse, plus sites for more than 900 houses.
The Georgia Club was started in the late 1990s, geared at University of Georgia alumni looking for retirement homes. But construction of homes stalled around 2008.
Alvarez & Marsal wants to make new homes available by spring of next year, with plans to sell a few per month.
Steve Crowell, a senior director for the firm, said 20 existing homes have sold so far this year, which leads him to believe there will be demand for new homes. Home prices range from the low $300,000s to more than $1 million. Golf memberships range from $12,000 to $24,000.
The club was sold by the Barber Creek Land Co., which was financed by Anglo Irish Bank Co. The bank was nationalized by the Irish government in the wake of that country’s economic crisis and required to sell its U.S. assets.
