The Prairie Village, Kan., club filed for Chapter 11 protection after the bank sold its $3.1 million loan to a developer that plans to build up to 35 homes on the property.
In an effort to save Homestead Country Club in Prairie Village, Kan., from becoming a residential development, representatives of the club filed for bankruptcy earlier this week, the Kansas City (Mo.) Star reported.
Homestead Country Club on Tuesday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a move that could allow the club to remain open pending a ruling from the bankruptcy court. Unlike other types of bankruptcy, Chapter 11 allows a business to restructure and remain in operation if their restructure plan is accepted, the Star reported.
In November the club’s bank, Valley View Bank, sold the $3.1 million loan to Park Place Partners LLC developers Jeffrey Alpert and Melanie Mann. Originally Mann and Alpert had requested a summary judgment to move forward with foreclosure and develop the property, which would have meant the end of the club. Now they must wait for the bankruptcy court to decide, which could be a long process, the Star reported.
Park Place would like to develop the area into high-end community with 30 to 35 homes. The property is one of the last remaining green spaces in the area. Neighborhoods around the club have many teardowns, where developers purchase properties and then tear them down and rebuild the homes before reselling at a much higher value, the Star reported.
Mann said starting from scratch is a better way to create a “community feel” than building houses lot by lot, the Star reported.
Attempts by the Star to contact Homestead chairman Cyd Nelson and others about the bankruptcy were unsuccessful.
Prior to filing for bankruptcy, Nelson had said the club was hopeful it could find a buyer that would allow them to continue operating on about nine acres at the back of the property where the clubhouse, pool and tennis courts are and sell off a 5-acre lawn to pay off debt, the Star reported.
“We would have really enjoyed seeing that space become a park and preserve green space in that area,” Nelson said. “We’re open to building homes there too.”
Nelson would not give specifics about Homestead club membership, but said the numbers have stabilized. “Our members are very loyal,” she said. Nelson said membership information is confidential, but a March article in the Star reported membership has fallen from about 500 in the 1990s to 320 today, or about 36 percent.
The club has had conversations with a number of interested buyers, but wouldn’t disclose specifics. Recently the club was hopeful the city of Prairie Village would buy the land and use it as a park. But on August 6, city officials announced that they had ceased conversations about buying a chunk of the property, the Star reported.
City Administrator Quinn Bennion said a number of complications lead to the city’s decision to end the conversation. Most city council conversations about the club took place in closed session with the city attorney, which is common when a city is discussing buying land, the Star reported.
Chief among the concerns is a 1955 deed that appears to forbid the use of the land as a park or anything other than single-family homes. The land “may be used and occupied only for the purpose of operating thereon a country club … and or no other purpose or purposes whatsoever.” Later language says the land “shall be used for private residences purposes only,” the Star reported.
“It would be pretty complicated to amend it,” Bennion said.
The council also could not agree on the price and size of the lot. The city would have liked to purchase about four acres, but Bennion said the exact size and the price changed several times during discussion, the Star reported.
The council was unanimous in favor of improving the city’s parks, Bennion said, but with other park projects in place, including a $500,000 renovation of city tennis courts, he said the council decided against adding a new park, the Star reported.
“The council is open to purchasing other green space in the future,” he said.
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