KEDCo Relaunches Stonehenge With Winona Support
July 3, 2019 at 2:40 a.m.
By Jackie [email protected]
The resolution established a revolving loan fund to support acquisition of the golf course property by Kosciusko Community Development Corp., a separate not-for-profit entity of Kosciusko Economic Development Corp. The entity can support public-private partnerships like the Stonehenge relaunch.
Alan Tio, CEO of KEDCo, appeared before the town council Tuesday to answer any questions the council or residents had.
According to a news release from KEDCo, KCDC “will enter into a lease agreement with 28FIFTY Management LLC, led by longtime golf professional Denny Hepler, to operate the golf course, and will sell the clubhouse to an entity planning to redevelop it as a multi-tenant space.”
Some tenant possibilities for the clubhouse are restaurants, but other options are possible.
Randolph R. Rompola, attorney at Barnes & Thornburg LLP, said Winona Lake would provide the corporation money on an annual basis so KCDC could pay the bank on the loan on a semi-annual basis. The loan will not exceed 10 years.
Rompola said typically when this type of loan is set up, all the money is paid up front. However, that is not being asked in this case. Winona Lake would span out the money asked of them over 10 years, so it would be easier to forecast the town’s budget every year.
How the loan fund would be funded and how the town would get its money back if something should arise was explained.
The money to fund the loan fund for the corporation is anticipated to come from the economic development portion of the local income tax, but it could come from any monies the town sees fit, Rompola said.
Town Coordinator Craig Allebach said Winona Lake currently has no debt.
“We currently do have a TIF district and it was paid off early about 10 years ago,” Allebach said. The balance is $475,000.
Allebach said the town does have other available funds to draw from, including the redevelopment fund.
Rompola said if KCDC decided to sell the property before the loan is sold off, any sale proceeds over what the bank loan is goes to the town.
If the property is sold after the bank loan is paid off, any sales proceeds go the town, Rompola said.
KCDC would hold the deed for Stonehenge, Tio said.
If the business fails, Council President Rick Swaim said the money invested would come back to the town.
Members of the town council expressed reasons why they supported going about the project like this.
“We don’t know the future, but we know the present,” said Swaim. If nothing was done with the land, it would be a meadow. “We have some control over what happens with that land.”
The golf course is an asset the town council would like to maintain, as Swaim said the property value would have decreased if the town didn’t do anything.
“We want to maintain property values as much as possible,” he said.
Tio said he did read an article that stated golf has plateaued with 24 million rounds played a year. He said the article said golf courses are thriving and adding amenities.
“We have a lot of questions ourselves. We’ve been working on this for several months and we’ll be working on it for several months,” Allebach said.
The resolution established a revolving loan fund to support acquisition of the golf course property by Kosciusko Community Development Corp., a separate not-for-profit entity of Kosciusko Economic Development Corp. The entity can support public-private partnerships like the Stonehenge relaunch.
Alan Tio, CEO of KEDCo, appeared before the town council Tuesday to answer any questions the council or residents had.
According to a news release from KEDCo, KCDC “will enter into a lease agreement with 28FIFTY Management LLC, led by longtime golf professional Denny Hepler, to operate the golf course, and will sell the clubhouse to an entity planning to redevelop it as a multi-tenant space.”
Some tenant possibilities for the clubhouse are restaurants, but other options are possible.
Randolph R. Rompola, attorney at Barnes & Thornburg LLP, said Winona Lake would provide the corporation money on an annual basis so KCDC could pay the bank on the loan on a semi-annual basis. The loan will not exceed 10 years.
Rompola said typically when this type of loan is set up, all the money is paid up front. However, that is not being asked in this case. Winona Lake would span out the money asked of them over 10 years, so it would be easier to forecast the town’s budget every year.
How the loan fund would be funded and how the town would get its money back if something should arise was explained.
The money to fund the loan fund for the corporation is anticipated to come from the economic development portion of the local income tax, but it could come from any monies the town sees fit, Rompola said.
Town Coordinator Craig Allebach said Winona Lake currently has no debt.
“We currently do have a TIF district and it was paid off early about 10 years ago,” Allebach said. The balance is $475,000.
Allebach said the town does have other available funds to draw from, including the redevelopment fund.
Rompola said if KCDC decided to sell the property before the loan is sold off, any sale proceeds over what the bank loan is goes to the town.
If the property is sold after the bank loan is paid off, any sales proceeds go the town, Rompola said.
KCDC would hold the deed for Stonehenge, Tio said.
If the business fails, Council President Rick Swaim said the money invested would come back to the town.
Members of the town council expressed reasons why they supported going about the project like this.
“We don’t know the future, but we know the present,” said Swaim. If nothing was done with the land, it would be a meadow. “We have some control over what happens with that land.”
The golf course is an asset the town council would like to maintain, as Swaim said the property value would have decreased if the town didn’t do anything.
“We want to maintain property values as much as possible,” he said.
Tio said he did read an article that stated golf has plateaued with 24 million rounds played a year. He said the article said golf courses are thriving and adding amenities.
“We have a lot of questions ourselves. We’ve been working on this for several months and we’ll be working on it for several months,” Allebach said.
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