PURCHASE BY TRUMP WORRIES POINT LAKE GOLF CLUB MEMBERS

FROM THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER.COM

By Kerry Singe

MOORESVILLE, North Carolina - The Trump Organisation is negotiating to buy the Point Lake and Golf Club, but some members are worried because so little information is being shared about the real estate mogul's plans.

Some club members fear that the deal is happening too quickly and that Trump could raise fees and change the intimate feel of their luxury community near Lake Norman.

On Thursday, Donald Trump's son Eric told the Charlotte Observer newspaper that the private, Greg Norman-designed golf course is beautiful and "has a lot of potential."

"I think money needs to be put in the course to really bring out that potential," Trump junior said. "It has a good feeling. It's well-designed. The place could be really special."

But a number of residents fear that they won't have enough time to vet a proposal and consider alternatives if necessary. The entire club will vote on any proposal. Some residents said they've been told that a proposal could be presented in February.

Among their concerns: Could Trump take the club public? Could he build casinos and hotels, raise fees or load the club with debt? Might some families be priced out of the Point?

Now, as a possible vote on a sale looms closer, tensions are rising among members.

"This could change our whole community overnight," said one resident who asked not to be identified out of fear of antagonising neighbours.

In a statement provided to the Charlotte Observer, the club's advisory board said that it plans to share "multiple presentations to the members where the pros and cons of continued ownership of the Club by the members or a possible sale to the Club will be presented and discussed.

"There will be plenty of time and opportunities for the members to learn about and debate these options."

The Point, off Brawley School Road in Mooresville, is owned by members but controlled by its developer, Crescent Communities. Crescent is due to transfer control to members at the end of the year.

The club's board of governors invited the Trumps, whose company owns 12 golf clubs/courses, to consider purchasing the Point more than two years ago.

With a reputation for being lavish and high-end of the market, Trump golf clubs often feature bright, open floor plans, ornate decorations and massive chandeliers. Equally upscale are the prices and fees the clubs charge, say people who have visited the property.

Trump junior said he and his father share a passion for golf and love building things and shaping land. They are currently building a high-profile and controversial golf project in Scotland, a few miles north of Aberdeen..

"We love making things amazing," said Trump junior.

The 900-lot Point golf course community was built by Crescent Resources in the late 1990s and has attracted NASCAR drivers, sports figures, medical professionals and executives from the nearby Lowe's Cos. headquarters. The median house size is 4,500 to 5,000 square feet, and the average lot size is an acre. In 2006, the average home price was more than $1 million.

With gray, Cape Cod-style buildings and streets named Easton and Moor's End, the community is themed as a Nantucket village. It offers club facilities, a tavern, a general store, a cobbler, a village green and a meeting house connected by a cobblestone road.

All homeowners must be club members and pay annual dues ranging from $6,000 to $18,000 in addition to initiation costs and other fees. More than 60 percent of club members hold an equity stake.

Trump junior said he and his father are not looking to buy development rights at the Point. The sale would be a strict golf play, he said.

Developers have typically coveted golf clubs to sell homes. United States developers with an interest in residential real estate built so many golf communities in the 1990s and early 2000s nationwide that it led to an oversupply, according to the National Golf Federation.

Add in the weak economy, and many clubs are losing members or earning less revenue as people play fewer rounds and spend less on food.

As a result, more "privately-owned" golf clubs in the States are offering themselves for sale.

Anytime a club faces an ownership change, residents have reason to be wary, said Jason Cox with the Carolinas Golf Association.

Of the growing number of clubs that have been sold in recent years, he said, almost all saw significant change.

Three years ago, for example, a company bought the Musgrove Mill Golf Club in Clinton, South Carolina. This year, the club and its Arnold Palmer-designed golf course were slated to be shut down because of money problems, Cox said. A woman who answered the phone at Musgrove Mill on Thursday said the club's owners were going to give the club a reprieve for a year.

When a new owner wants to spend money on a club, Cox said, members should ask how the owner plans to recoup the investment.

"All the properties we've heard that Trump has bought, he's turned them into an incredible facility," Cox said. "But it's definitely high end. And that high end comes with a high price tag."