Will there be Golf Timeshares on St. Andrews’ Eighteenth?
Monday, September 21, 2009
Golf’s elite players and most ardent and well-heeled fans thought they were all set to become timeshare owners at St. Andrews. Four years ago, Wasserman Real Estate Capital secured the consent of planners to convert Hamilton Hall at St. Andrews into luxury timeshares.
The 114-year-old historic building, which sits adjacent to the Royal & Ancient (R&A) Golf Club of St Andrews, was once the famed Grand Hotel of Scotland where Edward VIII, George VI, and even Rudyard Kipling vacationed by the sea. In 1949, the building was converted into student housing for the University of St. Andrews and was used as such until it was sold in 2005 to Wasserman for approximately £20 million.
However, we all know what has happened to the real estate market since the celebratory day when Wasserman announced it had secured £84.3 million in project finance from Bank of Scotland. Instead of building 23 luxury golf timeshare apartments to be sold to 115 timeshare owners as “resident memberships” for between £750,000 and £1.9 million, (plus annual fee), Bank of Scotland found itself repossessing the property that Wasserman could no longer afford.
Now the Good News about Golf Timeshare at St. Andrews
Yet news last week says the golf timeshare project may be back on track. American businessman Herb Kohler, (a name you may recognize from the fixtures in your bathroom) already owns the luxury Old Course Hotel that sits at the other end of St. Andrews’ eighteen hole. And reports say Kohler is in the market to purchase the Hamilton Hall property for an estimated £14 million to £15 million.
Pending any unexpected problems or protests by Wasserman that believes it was unfairly evicted, Kohler may soon be the new owner of Hamilton Hall and golf timeshares on the eighteenth at St. Andrews may become a reality after all.