Billionaire Picks Up Frederica Development

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Oct 8th 2010 at 7:01PM

The troubled Frederica Club has a new owner, billionaire businessman and former Miami Dolphins majority owner Wayne Huizenga. Wells Fargo & Co., foreclosed on the 2,500-acre golf resort last November. The price he paid was not disclosed. Earlier this year, Huizenga was said to be among the bidders for the entire assets of the Sea Island Co. before the developer of the iconic Georgia coastal resort went into bankruptcy. According to the article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Huizenga formerly owned the Boca Raton Resort and Club, the Arizona Biltmore, and the Floridian Golf Club and Marina. He currently owns the Diamond Creek Golf Club in Banner Elk, N.C.

The Frederica Club on St. Simons Island has an equestrian center, a freshwater lake of more than 300 acres and one of the top golf courses in the world. Homesites available in the development start at just under $1 million.

The announcement comes days before Sea Island's other remaining assets including the Cloister hotel, Sea Island Beach Club and four golf courses head up to auction on Monday. Oaktree Capital Management and Avenue Capital Group have offered a $197.5 million "stalking horse bid." They are expected to face competition from a partnership between billionaire Philip Anschutz's Anschutz Corp. and an affiliate of Starwood Capital Group. The majority of the proceeds are to go to the company's lenders.

Most of the proceeds from the sale are earmarked for the company's lenders. Sea Island, located in St. Simons Island, Georgia filed for bankruptcy protection in August with more than $500 million in debt, much of it related to the massive renovation and expansion of the resort in 2006 and 2007. The company has been owned for six decades by the family of William "Bill" Jones III.

Tags: Frederica, frederica club, frederica development, george lucas, sea island, Wayne Huizenga