Despite financial difficulties that forced his casino group to file for bankruptcy protection earlier this month, real estate mogul Donald Trump is expanding his investment in golf.
Trump recently finalized a deal to purchase Lowes Island Club, a 36-hole private country club in the suburban Washington, D.C., area. The club had been on the market since last August for a reported $18 million asking price.
The 800-acre, 750-member club located in Loudoun County, Va., was part of a 3,000-acre residential project planned by developer Robert Kettler in the late 1980s. It was taken over by Chevy Chase Bank when the real estate market declined just as the project was getting under way.
As he has done at other clubs he has purchased, Trump said he would bring in architect Tom Fazio to remodel the courses, which sit along the Potomac River. He also is planning to renovate the clubhouse, pool and other facilities.
The club – which will be renamed Trump National Golf Club, Washington, D.C. – is Trump’s eighth golf property.
It is the second high-end private club he has purchased in the past five months. Last September, Trump paid a reported $28 million for Shadow Isle Golf Club in Colts Neck, N.J.