Article Courtesy of The
West Orange Times & Observer
By Danielle Hendrix
Published March 27, 2021
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After a couple of tumultuous years and uncertainty surrounding the fate of the
Stoneybrook West Golf & Country Club, the community’s homeowners have been
awarded control of the property.
On Tuesday, March 16,
Judge Lori Vaughan, of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Middle
District of Florida, approved a deal for the city of Winter
Garden to purchase the golf course for $2 million and allow
the homeowners association to take it over. Stoneybrook West
homeowners will repay the city over 20 years through a
special assessment.
Things were made even more interesting during the hearing
when two other entities came forth with offers of $3 million
each to purchase the course, City Manager Mike Bollhoefer
said. However, Vaughan ruled in favor of the city and all
parties involved in its deal.
“Since we went in with the offer and the trustee agreed to
it, the note holder agreed to it, the HOA agreed to it … we
were the four parties with standings since we’re all in
agreement, (and) the judge accepted our offer of $2 million
and awarded it to us,” Bollhoefer said. “That was pretty
cool. That was a good move on our part, making that offer,
because if not, who knows what would’ve happened at that
auction.” |
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In early February, Fisher Auction Company announced it was appointed by the
U.S. Bankruptcy Court to manage an auction of the golf course property,
which was originally slated for Friday, March 12. Later that month, city
officials decided to consult with the bankruptcy trustee regarding what it
would take for the city — in partnership with the HOA — to buy the property
before the auction. The answer was a $2 million price tag.
Now that the offer has been accepted, Bollhoefer said, the city is in the
process of figuring out the transfer of the property to the HOA.
“We’ll transfer it to the homeowners, and they’re going to have to make up
their mind what they want to do over time — the final decision of what they
want to go with the golf course — and it’ll take them, I’m sure, some time
to figure that out,” he said. “But now they can control their own fate.
That’s the key.”
Dennis Armstrong, president of the Stoneybrook West HOA, said there were
moments during the hearing in which he had no idea what decision Vaughan was
leaning toward.
“She came back and said, ‘Sometimes the most money isn’t always the best
offer,’ (and) that as a judge, she was supposed to look at everything and
anything, and that she really felt that the best deal would be for the city
and the association to prevail,” Armstrong said. “We were ecstatic about
that decision, of course. … We’ve been reacting for so long, so it’ll be
different to kind of actually be in the driver’s seat and be the ones that
are putting the different decisions and options out there rather than just
reacting to what everyone else throws at us.”
Stoneybrook homeowners voted earlier this month on two items: whether to
move forward with purchasing the property, and approving changes to the
HOA’s governing documents to be able to do so. It took two separate votes to
achieve approval. During the second vote, Armstrong said, 75% of the
homeowners voted in favor of the proposals.
In addition to the special assessment, Armstrong said, homeowners agreed to
pay a dollar per day per home to go toward maintaining the property as an
open or green space. This will be collected in the form of increased
quarterly assessments to fund the maintenance.
“We would look and see if we could find a golf operator that might be
interested in putting together some sort of a deal with us, and if we were
able to find something that we thought would work, we would put that before
the homeowners for a vote to see if it was something they were supportive
of. We also agreed that if we did any other uses to the property, we would
put that before the homeowners for their approval also. There’s all kinds of
different ideas out there of what we should and could do.”
Armstrong added that the HOA has been contacted by two entities that are
interested in discussing the possibility of bringing golf back to the
community.
“I don’t know if it’s possible or not, but we’re certainly going to look
into it and see what we can come up with,” Armstrong said.
“The good news is now … it’s good for this whole community because we don't
have to worry about this golf course … and things falling apart and having a
negative impact in the community,” Bollhoefer said. “I think it’s going to
be good news for them long term.”
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