The Shellaberger Tennis Center is being sold to an unnamed party, but the sale has not been finalized, according to co-owner Eric Rose. He notes the buyer did not say how the site would be used in the future. Rose and Sam Hitman bought Shellaberger in 2011 from a bank for $2 million, three years after the College of Santa Fe went defunct. “It’s that time in life to make a change,” says Rose, whose daughter, Macy Elise Rose, is heading to the University of Hawaii to play Division I collegiate tennis.
The indoor Shellaberger Tennis Center in Santa Fe, N.M. is under contract to be sold, with the last day of tennis on June 5 under the current ownership, The New Mexican reported.
Co-owner Eric Rose posted May 16 on Facebook the six-court indoor tennis center with one outdoor stadium court was being sold to an unnamed party, but the sale has not yet closed.
“They are not indicating what purpose to put the building to,” Rose said in a phone interview with The New Mexican.
Rose and Sam Hitman had bought Shellaberger in 2011 from a bank for $2 million, three years after the College of Santa Fe went defunct, The New Mexican reported. Both remain the owners, but Hitman is in Denver, where both were when they acquired the tennis center.
Rose did not disclose the sale price but the 8.6-acre, 57,500-square-foot facility was listed for $4.9 million, The New Mexican reported.
“It’s that time in life to make a change,” said Rose, whose daughter, Macy Elise Rose, is heading to the University of Hawaii to play Division I collegiate tennis. “You’re always trying to determine what is best for you and your family. I look forward to the next chapter. We may move out to Hawaii as well.”
Rose and Hitman had already been in the tennis business for 30 years when they acquired Shellaberger, The New Mexican reported. Rose’s wife, Wahlesah, is a tennis coach at Shellaberger.
The center has 250 members and, at its peak under Rose and Hitman, had 300 members, The New Mexican reported. Memberships paid for June and beyond will be refunded, Rose noted in his Facebook message.
El Gancho Fitness, Swim & Racquet Club, with seven outdoor and two indoor courts, and Santa Fe Tennis & Swim Club with four outdoor and one indoor court, remain.
Alfred Wasilewski is a member of all three facilities, but told The New Mexican he plays more at El Gancho and Santa Fe Tennis.
“I joined Shellaberger because it has a decent indoor lighting program,” Wasilewski said. “Shellaberger is a beautiful facility. They have a very active USTA program. The closing of Shellaberger is a disappointment.”
Shellaberger opened in November 2002 at the southeastern corner of the College of Santa Fe campus, The New Mexican reported. It was funded by $6 million from Rosemarie Shellaberger, who had previously funded eight outdoor courts at the college in the 1970s. The center has two wings with three indoor courts each and an outdoor court, with a 400-seat stadium.
Rose and Hitman were operating two tennis clubs in Denver in 2011, The New Mexican reported. One of their members was the daughter of Gladys Heldman, who lived in Santa Fe and for whom the stadium court at Shellaberger was named. Heldman played a critical role in the establishment of the Virginia Slims women’s tennis tour in the Billie Jean King era and was the founder of World Tennis magazine.
The Shellaberger Tennis Center is the only privately owned property remaining at the city-owned midtown campus, The New Mexican reported. After the College of Santa Fe folded, the campus served as the Santa Fe University of Art & Design until it, too, shut down in spring 2018.
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