Crown puts St Mellion on the block

Following a strategic review of its UK golf portfolio, Crown Golf has taken the decision to offer St Mellion International Resort for sale. Crown Golf says St Mellion has undergone major investment under its ownership. This includes a modern new 80-bedroom resort hotel complex with spa, banqueting and conferencing facilities plus significantly enlarged clubhouse facilities. There has also been a redevelopment of the Kernow Course and refurbishment of the Nicklaus Signature Course, which was the first British golf course designed personally by Jack Nicklaus.

Despite challenging economic conditions at the time of the relaunch in 2009, Crown says St Mellion has enjoyed robust trading and continuous growth. In December 2014 the resort received outline planning approval to develop an additional 265 holiday homes on the 325-acre site. Plans are also well advanced at St Mellion for the development of a new ten room spa facility which, subject to the sale, would be ready to open April 2016.

Crown Golf’s chief executive officer, Stephen Towers, said, “With the grant of the planning permission for the new holiday homes, St Mellion International Resort now represents an enormous opportunity as a property development to the right buyer. The new holiday homes also offer a significant potential trading enhancement to the current income streams, and their eventual completion will boost the long-term profitability of the resort.

“However, we regard the completion of the holiday homes development at St Mellion as being outside of our core operational business. Therefore, we believe that with the economy returned to growth, and particularly with the increased recent levels of interest in the UK golf resort market by property developers, now is exactly the right time to offer this unique opportunity to the market, although any sale would naturally be conditional on full value being achieved.”

The St Mellion International Resort sale offering is being managed by CBRE. More at: www.cbrecapitalmarkets.com