Dan Glick, a Board member, and three silent partners are making arrangements to acquire the Lancaster, Pa. property from its equity members, and then pay off its debts, implement clubhouse and golf course improvements, cut dues, and eliminate an annual operating assessment. “There’s a solid foundation here that we can build on,” Glick said.
Meadia Heights Golf Club in Lancaster, Pa. is getting new owners who have a sweeping $3.6 million plan to invigorate the struggling club, Lancaster Online reported.
Dan Glick, who sits on the club’s Board of Directors, and three silent partners intend to buy the club, pay off its debts, renovate its clubhouse and golf course, and cut dues as Meadia Heights remains a private club, Lancaster Online reported.
“There’s a solid foundation here that we can build on,” Glick told the website, pointing to the club’s high-quality golf course and strong food-and-beverage operation.
“I think this will be a good long-term investment,” added Glick, a Lancaster resident who owns Northeast Holdings, the umbrella company for several local manufacturing firms.
Meadia Heights, opened in 1922, consists of a 143-acre property just south of Lancaster city and the Conestoga River, Lancaster Online reported. Like many private clubs, it has seen membership drop in the past 20 years, leading to tens of thousands of dollars of red ink, Jim Zanghi, Board President, told the website.
Changing lifestyles is one reason for the slump, Zanghi added. “There are too many families that just don’t have time to dedicate four hours to a round of golf more than a couple times a month,” he noted. “To belong to a club, you want to be actively using it.”
Economic downturns have also played a big role, with the eight-month recession of 2001 and the Great Recession, which ran from December 2007 to June 2009, slashing disposable income of many households. The combined impact of those factors for Meadia Heights GC was a drop in golfing members from 300-plus in the late 1990s to 161 today, Zanghi told Lancaster Online. The club has another 117 social and dining members.
With its membership shrinking, Meadia Heights has been suffering annual operating losses of $60,000 to $70,000 over the past five years, Zanghi said, and had to negotiate a reduced monthly mortgage payment to avoid a default.
While Meadia Heights has not been in danger of closing, Zanghi told Lancaster Online, the club has lacked the money to fund changes that its leadership believes are necessary to grow its membership.
Glick’s group will now attempt to fix that, Lancaster Online reported, and will start by settling all of the club’s debts, including the roughly $2 million owed on its mortgage, and investing $1.2 million in upgrades over the next two years.
Meadia Heights’ equity members (about half of its golfing members) unanimously approved the sale of the club to Glick’s group on August 29th, Lancaster Online reported, and settlement is now set for year-end.
“Dan loves the club. He wants to see it not only survive, but thrive,” Zanghi said.
A major part of the incoming owners’ plan to rebuild Meadia Heights’ membership— and its financial strength—is improving the property, Lancaster Online reported. The plan calls for repaving cart paths, replacing sand and replacing or installing drainage in bunkers, and renovating the banquet and casual dining rooms in the clubhouse.
A second key to the plan is cutting dues for golfing members, Lancaster Online reported. Dues for an individual golfing member are being reduced from $370 a month to $300. For a family golfing membership, dues are being trimmed from $550 a month to $450. The changes are effective immediately for new members and effective January 1 for renewing members.
The prices of dining memberships ($100 per year) and social memberships ($720 per year) are not likely to change for 2018, Zanghi told Lancaster Online.
Glick’s group also will be eliminating the annual Meadia Heights operating assessment, an extra charge paid by members to help the club cope with red ink. That’s been averaging $600 in recent years, Lancaster Online reported.
Eliminating the assessment, said Glick, “will be really advantageous for growing our membership. When a new member joins, he knows what his monthly dues will be, and there’s no surprises.”
A third initiative will be installing a new management structure, said Glick, but he declined to specify what will change in that area.
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