Ga. firm courts MPERS golf course auction

Hilda W. Allen Real Estate, a Georgia firm that specializes in the sale of golf and resort properties, has approached the Municipal Police Employees’ Retirement System about handling the auction of its two troubled golf courses in Louisiana. The company made a presentation to pension fund trustees last month, but no decision has been made as to whether to hire the firm. The golf courses are now being appraised to determine their value, given that they haven’t been evaluated since 2009 and a new appraisal is needed to meet auditing requirements anyway. The properties previously have been valued at $11.2 million. The process should take between 45 and 60 days. Hilda Allen has brokered deals on more than 400 golf courses since 1991—most of them in Florida and Georgia—totaling more than $850 million in sales. In Louisiana, the firm was involved in the mid-1990s sale of the Oak Harbor Golf Club in Slidell. MPERS has lost $46 million in Stonebridge Golf Club and Olde Oaks Golf Club and its surrounding real-estate development, all near Bossier City, according to an independent auditor. In March, trustees approved spending another $70,000 on Stonebridge and $20,000 on Olde Oaks to cover outstanding accounts payable and remaining improvement projects. The retirement system manages the pensions of more than 10,000 law-enforcement employees in Louisiana. —Penny Font