After sitting on the market for six years, The Bluffs Golf Resort in St. Francisville is poised to change hands. Local attorneys Kenneth Carter and Richard “Jerry” Dodson are teaming up to acquire the property—a 182-acre golf course, clubhouse and an adjoining 118-tract of undeveloped land—from owner Claude Penn, who acquired the resort from its developer, Jim Tanner, in 2009. A tentative closing date is set for Sept. 4.
Though a purchase price has not been disclosed, a spokesman for Penn says the buyers are paying “far less” than the stated asking price for the development, which totalled $11.3 million. The golf course had an asking price of $6.5 million, the clubhouse was listed for $3 million, and the adjoining 118-acre tract was listed at $1.8 million.
“Our selling price is way less than half of that,” says Bobby Waters, Penn’s spokesman. “The asking price is not even close to the sale price. Mr. Penn is going to lose a lot of money on the deal.”
Penn’s limited liability company, Bluffs Air LLC, acquired the property for $4.8 million, according to court records.
While the agreed upon price for The Bluffs is deeply discounted, Waters says the 78-year-old Penn was ready to be done with the development, which has been embroiled in a dispute over property tax assessments for several years.
“He is ready to retire and this just wore him out,” Waters says. “He was aggravated and his name kept being in the newspaper over this tax thing for no reason.”
Waters says Penn has a great deal of respect for Carter and Dodson, who reportedly plan to invest heavily in improving the development. Though several details of the transaction must still be finalized, Waters expects it to go forward next month as planned.
“Mr. Carter, Mr. Dodson and Mr. Penn are all handshake guys,” he says. “If they agree to something it’s going to happen.”
—Stephanie Riegel
