Bonita Bay Group chairman suspends golf club purchase negotiations
Naples News By LAURA LAYDEN
BONITA SPRINGS — It’s no deal for now for members of the Bonita Bay Club.
David Lucas, chairman of the Bonita Bay Group, has called off talks with a Turnover Committee that has been handling the negotiations for members trying to buy their golf club from the developer.
In a letter e-mailed to all club members in Bonita Bay on Sept. 23, Lucas said the committee failed to even discuss the developer’s latest offer to sell the club and instead filed a class-action lawsuit.
The suit was filed in Lee County Circuit Court earlier this week. It seeks more than $100 million in damages. It alleges a Ponzi-style scheme involving member deposits — a charge that Bonita Bay Group has vehemently denied. The named plaintiffs are John Klocko III and Cynthia White, who both sit on the Turnover Committee.
“This is very disappointing, particularly since we believe we presented a very good offer that received very positive initial feedback from the Turnover Committee,” Lucas said in his letter.
Lucas urged club members to challenge their committee to “reach a successful conclusion to the negotiations and put this unpleasantness behind all of us.”
“We have concluded discussions with the Turnover Committee — it is up to you to decide if that conclusion is permanent or temporary,” he wrote to members in his e-mail. “If you would rather enjoy your club’s social scene, your clubhouse and other amenities and play golf on outstanding golf courses than spend your time monitoring and paying for lawsuits, let the committee know your views.”
He said he believed that there was “significant disagreement within the Turnover Committee itself” on the next steps that should be taken.
“As a member you are presented with a choice,” Lucas wrote. “If you support the current course of the Turnover Committee, you commit yourselves to years of litigation, continue or worsen the negative effect on the value of your home and completely halt all real estate activity in Bonita Bay.”
The class-action lawsuit was brought on “behalf of all members who have promissory notes issued prior to January 2004.”
Members say those notes guarantee they’ll get their deposits back if they leave the club. But the cash-strapped developer is no longer honoring its policy to refund the deposits of resigning members within 30 days.
The letter from Lucas drew an angry response from the Turnover Committee. In a report to members Sept. 25, the committee described the letter as inaccurate and distorted. Committee members shot a letter back to Lucas.
In the letter to Lucas, the committee said it appears that Bonita Bay Group is calling off negotiations because of the lawsuit and members were told that wouldn’t happen if legal action was taken.
“Let us assure you that the TOC (Turnover Committee) speaks with one voice,” the committee wrote to Lucas. “While we heartily debate every issue, when the TOC acts, it does so in a united fashion.”
The committee said its members filed a lawsuit only after it determined that the latest offer was a “rehash” of the developer’s original offers, which was rejected. The committee listed specific reasons for rejecting the latest offer in a letter sent to the developer on Sept. 22.
“Our rejection letter emphatically pointed out that we were hopeful of a negotiated turnover and were willing to have discussions to that effect,” the committee wrote to Lucas. “Instead of having discussions about our concerns, your reply was your letter to members.”
One of the sticking points in the negotiations has been the liability of deposits owed to members. The liability for resigning members could be $25 million or more.
In its latest offers, Bonita Bay Group would have created a new company that would own the assets of the club and assume the developer’s $20 million in debt and all liabilities for members’ initiation deposits. The Turnover Committee said the offer was even less attractive than the original one. Under the first one, Bonita Bay Group would not have continued operating the club.
Bonita Bay Group owes more than $70 million to a group of lenders, led by Key Bank. It’s looking to sell off all its recreational clubs in five communities in a fight to avoid bankruptcy.
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