Two years ago, HNA group, a Chinese airline and real estate company, turned heads when it paid Oki Golf $137.5 million for ten golf courses in the Seattle area. Some industry observers said the price was high, and wondered about the conglomerate’s business strategy.
HNA is now selling and has placed those courses, and others, on the market. It sold the first of its portfolio, Nicklaus Club-Monterey for $3.2 million, only half of what it paid in 2010 when it bought the course out of bankruptcy for $7.5 million.
Insider speculate that in order to sell its other courses, it will need to sell for half the sale price as well. The company is being forced to sell more than $10 billion in assets by the Chinese government, which felt it accumulated too much debt.
To take advantage of its status as a Jack Nicklaus Signature course, the club had been rebranded Nicklaus Club-Monterey in 2013, but will be renamed The Club at Pasadera by the new owners. The facility includes a 38,000-square-foot early-California style clubhouse.