Two Ginn Resorts Bring in Outside Management Companies

Reynolds Signature Communities (Linger Longer) will manage golf, club, and membership operations, while the Noble Investment Group will handle hospitality and rental management.

Palm Coast, Florida – March 20, 2009 – Ginn Resorts is announcing to club members and employees today that two outside firms will take over day-to-day management of Ginn’s Reunion and Hammock Beach Resorts. The transfer will be completed by April 6th. Ownership will remain with the current Ginn-LA (real estate developer Bobby Ginn and financial partner Lubert Adler) entities. Other Ginn properties remain unaffected by the announcement which culminates months of rumors surrounding the two Ginn properties and is viewed by most as a positive step. Reynolds Signature Communities will manage golf, club, and membership operations, while Atlanta-based Noble Investment Group will handle hospitality and rental management.
 
Reynolds Signature Communities is a subsidiary of Linger Longer Communities LLC, headquartered in Lake Oconee, Georgia and was formed in 1985 by Mercer and Jamie Reynolds to develop Reynolds Plantation and the surrounding lake area. Reynolds Plantation is a golf and lake community that has grown to feature 99 holes of championship golf and 80 miles of shoreline, as well as a AAA 5-diamond Ritz-Carlton Lodge. Additional Reynolds Signature Communities include Reynolds Landing on Lake Oconee and Achasta in historic Dahlonega, Georgia. Reynolds Signature Communities was the recent purchaser of Laurelmor, a Ginn community near Blowing Rock, N.C. It also operates (under a management contract) Cobblestone Park, another Ginn Community near Columbia, S.C.
 
Noble Investment Group is a leading sponsor of private equity real estate funds and an integrated operating and development organization that specializes in making investments in hotels and resorts throughout North America. Noble operates more than 8,000 hotel and resort guest rooms, convention and conference centers with approximately 1 million sq. ft. of meeting space, as well as day and resort spas, upscale restaurants and Starbucks retail coffee stores in fourteen states. Noble’s hotel brands include Hilton, W, and Hyatt.
 
The Hammock Beach Resort in Palm Coast, Florida with its Jack Nicklaus designed Ocean Course also includes the Conservatory, with a Tom Watson designed golf course, and Yacht Harbor Village and Marina. Reunion, in Kissimmee, Florida near Disney World has three courses. Both resorts include amenity rich resort condo/hotels.
 
The Ginn companies face several hurdles; both financial and legal. The default of a $675 million loan with Credit Suisse resulted in the sale of Laurelmor, a mountain community Ginn was developing near Blowing Rock, N.C. and the bankruptcy of Ginn owned properties at Tesoro, in Port St. Lucie and Quail West, near Naples. The company has responded with restructuring moves; closing its real estate sales group, outsourcing its security division, etc. It recently backed away from sporting event sponsorship commitments and announced a program allowing non-property owners to join the clubs via recallable memberships. 
 
In spite of these challenges, the two resort properties have continued to perform quite well. Last Saturday, Reunion experienced more golf play than on any previous date. Professional management should improve that trend.
 
"Although Reunion Resort and Hammock Beach are successful and thriving communities, they have reached a point in the maturation of the developments which necessitated a broader management approach to enable the communities to move to the next level in their growth cycle," said Robert Gidel, CEO of The Ginn Companies, LLC. He continued, "I am personally proud of the achievement of the management and operations teams. We have created two very distinctive resort experiences that have been internationally recognized for their quality."
 

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9 replies
  1. kevinl
    kevinl says:

    Reunion question

    Do you see Noble bringing in a Hotel partner to build a brand hotel they’re already working with, e.g. Hyatt, Hilton, W, or Marroit at Reunion?

  2. Doug
    Doug says:

    Capital projects at Reunion

    Toby, Thanks for the updates.
    Who will finance the ongoing development projects at Reunion – eg Clubhouse at Nicklaus Course. Will that responsibility stay with Ginn-LA, or will Reynolds take responsibility for capital maintenance and improvemnts?

  3. Jim Gintner
    Jim Gintner says:

    Reunion – welcome news!

    I am glad to see someone with resort experience and rental management experience coming to Reunion. I hope this will slow down the financial bleeding of all of the owners!

  4. Toby
    Toby says:

    Reply to Kevinl

    I don’t think they have any strategic changes in mind yet. They will need a lot of time to understand the culture of the resorts before making any altering decisions.

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