The Dirt Lawyer's Blog Archive

As I have said here before, I am no particular fan of Donald Trump. But his acquisition of the Running Horse development in Fresno (a proposed site of a PGA Tour event if it is ever finished, IIRC ) at a deep discount (though not nearly as he originally wanted) is a sign for opportunistic investors to ramp up to take advantage of a bubble. Here's a link, courtesy of The Real Estate Bloggers (technically competition I suppose, but I don't care). I represent and have represented opportunistic investors for years, so deals like this bode actually bode well for them.

When I was a kid, I used to accompany my father on a weekend-long band gig at the French Lick Springs Resort in southern Indiana. The area is better known these days perhaps as the hometown of Larry Bird. It was pretty run down in the 1970s, as I recall, but you could see it was once beautiful. And there was a Donald Ross golf course to boot. I was excited to see that French Lick and the unique West Baden Springs Hotel, have been restored to their former glory as one combined resort. They have added a casino and a Pete Dye course is on the way. It looks stunning. But I think it is also very pricey, especially for southern Indiana. And, based on this story about service problems , I think I will wait a while before visiting. That being said, I hope this resort pans out, if for no other reason because I am nostalgic.

I have a love-hate relationship with the New York Times . The writing is often superb, but the bias in the stories is sometimes amazing. Case in point: today's story about Bandon Dunes , the already-legendary golf resort in remote coastal Oregon. The Times has to (a) bellyache about some tax breaks Mike Keiser received in building the course, (b) complain about further "subsidies" to improve the local airport in the way of federal funds and lottery money, (c) bring in a token local who is being hurt by the project and (d) finally, go off on corporations subsidizing plane rides for their executives through the shareholders. Sheesh. Subsidizing the pet projects of the Times is okay, I guess, but heaven forbid if something beautiful and profitable gets built using tax breaks, and then -- oh, no -- the wealthy (who pay most of the taxes anyway) benefit from it! What is this world coming to? I wonder if this reporter even read Stephen Goodwin's superb book about the...

This deal is, in my opinion, a stroke of sheer genius, if you'll pardon the bad pun. Real estate billionaire Howard Milstein is buying a chunk of the Jack Nicklaus golf empire , the game's best known brand (sorry, Tiger). This gives Jack money to take cash out and allows the company to have more invested in the dirt of the golf courses it designs. Getting into the actual development end will allow them to reap more profits. Jack's had well-publicized business troubles in the past, including in the mid-1980s , right around the time he won that fabulous sixth Masters in 1986 at age 46, but those days are over. There's discipline and solid investment wisdom now and I think Jack can now laugh all the way to the bank. Since he has always been someone I admire as a professional who prioritized his career with his family, I could not be happier.