Auction In Play for 175-Acre Golf Course

Partners Joe Munsch of Evergreen Alliance Golf Ltd. and golf mogul Billy Walters of the Las Vegas-based Walters Golf have put Hilda Allen, president of Hilda W. Allen Real Estate Inc. in Adel, GA, in charge of the sale. "Our seller is very motivated. The partners have other interests. It's not in their portfolio or bailiwick to continue to operate this," she says. "They wanted to shorten the holding period and reduce the holding cost so we chose to market it with an accelerated marketing approach." The sale is set for Aug. 10 at 10 a.m. in the Omni Park West Hotel at 1590 LBJ Freeway in Dallas.

Allen tells GlobeSt.com that she expects two to five bidders based on the interest level from tour appointments. There is no minimum, but the sellers reserve the right to reject an offer. It's also predicted that one buyer will take all.

Based on comps for comparable properties, the course and 6,000-sf clubhouse should yield $3 million to $5 million, with the ante likely to go due to the extra developable land. The course's acreage is leased for the long from the Sabine River Authority of Texas.

The course, valued at $5 million, was developed by Williams, Gills & Associates, with half of the holes along a narrow peninsula with coves and bays. "Its biggest need is a lodging component," Allen says, citing the door is open for a boutique-type hotel.

The auction will be Allen's first in Texas, but she's already courting several other property owners for listings. "We think Texas may be a big market for us," says a broker, who's hawked more than 200 courses for $750 million since 1991. Hudson & Marshall of Texas Inc. in Dallas is co-brokering the Links deal.

On average, 1.5% of the nation's 18,000 to 20,000 courses change hands each year. "This is a very high-end golf course and will probably sell for much less than what it cost to build it," Allen says.