The family that has owned the New Kensington, Pa. property for nearly five decades put its 18-hole golf course up for sale via a sealed-bid auction and received interest from people in 10 different states, including golf course operators and developers. But because no potential buyer immediately met the family’s criteria for sale (which does not include a stipulation to maintain the golf operation), the decision has been made to continue to operate for another year.
The Oak Lake Golf Course and Lounge in New Kensington, Pa. has yet to find a buyer and plans to open for the 2019 golf season, with the owners booking events and planning to make minor changes and long-overdue improvements, the Pittsburgh (Pa.) Tribune-Review reported.
The Conley family, which has owned the Oak Lake property for nearly five decades, put the 18-hole golf course up for sale via a sealed-bid auction and received interest from people in 10 different states, including golf course operators and developers, the Tribune-Review reported. However, none of the potential buyers immediately met the family’s criteria for sale, leading to the decision to keep the course open next year, Jodi Conley told the Tribune-Review.
“In some cases [it was price], in other cases it was the way an offer was structured,” Conley said. “That’s really all I can say about that.”
Jodi Conley works at the course and is married to Michael Conley, one of the golf course owners who is also a Supervisor in the local (Upper Burrell) township, the Tribune-Review reported. The other owner is Michael’s brother-in-law, Charles Brouwer. The two took ownership over from family patriarch Bernie Conley in 2013, the Tribune-Review reported, before Bernie Conley’s death the following year.
When the course first opened in 1956, it had just nine holes, and Bernie Conley, who bought the course in 1972 after a brief stint of being one of three partners, wanted to add an additional nine, the Tribune-Review reported. The family then bought land from the Alcoa Corporation to build the second half of the course in in 1984 and open it in 1985.
The current owners hope that whoever buys the property keeps it as a golf course, but that is not a stipulation of the sale, Jodi Conley told the Tribune-Review. Potential buyers will be made aware that the family will be staying at Oak Lake and keeping it open for the entire 2019 season, she added.
The course sits on roughly 116 acres and is made up of three tax parcels in two zoning districts—agriculture residential and industrial— the Tribune-Review reported. Other allowable uses for the property include vineyards, farm markets, single-family homes, and recreational space.
Sandy Alderfer, the owners’ real estate agent, told the Tribune-Review that the family is still in talks with at least three potential buyers, but other people can reach out to him if interested.
“We did generate a good amount of interest, and we are still in conversation with a few parties, but were not able to close by the end this year,” Alderfer said. “They’re going to operate for another year while we continue the conversation.”