The Middle Smithfield Township Board of Supervisors has opened bids for the Country Club of the Poconos, and there seems to be a clear winner.
Bids were made by Ryan Schmidt of Rise Select, Amit Patel of AMBE Hotels W Falls LLC, Sebastian Rametta of OPUS Partners LLC and La Chiesa LLC.
Rise Select had the highest bid on the public golf course: $1 million with a buyer’s premium of $100,000 for a total purchase price of $1.1 million.
Prior to unsealing the bids on June 13, Board of Supervisors Chairperson Annette Atkinson recalled that it was brought up, in conversation before the meeting, that it was “the end of an era.”
“We would not have made it this far without a lot of people,” said Atkinson. “The fact that we now have multiple bids tonight shows that Middle Smithfield Township continues to attract economic development to the area. We couldn’t be more delighted about that.”
“It’s been a long 12-13 years,” said Supervisor Michael Dwyer, reiterating the thanks Atkinson shared. “We had a lot of help, it wasn’t just the supervisors.”
Middle Smithfield Township acquired the golf course in February 2010 in a deal in which the township received it for free, along with 400 acres of undeveloped land and two development roads, as a result of buying 176,000 gallons of unused sewage treatment capacity for $2 million, a $6 million valuation based on the capacity.
“It speaks to the dedicated efforts of many in our township and in Monroe County,” added Atkinson. “We’re delighted that developers have the confidence in this board, and faith in our community, and see the same potential that we do.”
Atkinson thanked many people, past and present, for the work they have done while on the golf course over the years.
The bids
- Rise Select: $1 million with a buyer’s premium of $100,000 for a total purchase price of $1.1 million
- AMBE Hotels W Falls LLC: $786,363.64 with a buyer’s premium of $78,636.36 for a total of $865,000
- Opus Partners LLC: $751,500 with a buyer’s premium of $75,150 for a total of $826,650.
- La Chiesa LLC: $667,979.09 with a buyer’s premium of $66,797.91 for a total of $734,777
The board of supervisors accepted the bids for legal review. However, as Atkinson put it, there was a clear “winner.” Attendee Carrie Wetherbee encouraged the supervisors to “take the highest bid.”
“We’d be absolutely delighted to work with Middle Smithfield and make the golf course all that it can be,” said Schmidt, who attended the meeting via Zoom. “In my very limited interaction thus far, it’s been nothing but positive and we see so many positive interaction and just fantastic things that can happen, not only with the golf course, with the surrounding land. We’re very, very excited to get our hands in there, get dirty, and start to meet a bunch of you and just work interactively with the community.”
Another representative of Rise Select who attended the meeting, Joe Kovacs, confirmed that they plan to keep it as a golf course.
Rametta, with OPUS Partners LLC, commended the supervisors and the township’s team as “great to work with” and that the township is “good to have you guys running the show.”
“New development provides jobs. It increases the Local Services Tax (LST) which we give to the fire and EMS company,” said Atkinson. “It increases your earned income tax, so this will eliminate a tax burden and decrease the expense of owning and operating a golf course and banquet hall, so the taxpayers should be very pleased.”
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