MEMBERS BUY CLUB AT MEDITERRA!

95 Percent of Mediterra Members & Residents Support New Club

NAPLES, Fla. (Oct. 23, 2009) – The Mediterra Members’ Advisory Board and Bonita Bay Group today announced an agreement for the members of the New Club at Mediterra to purchase the combined club assets for $6.8 million in cash and assume the $15 million Community Development District (CDD) debt. The agreement received strong support from the residents and members of Mediterra with 95 percent of former members and an additional 150 residents, who were not previously members, joining the New Club as golf, sports or social members.
“We are deeply appreciative of the overwhelming support of our Mediterra residents and club members who together seized this opportunity to control the destiny of our club and community,” said Richard Schmidt, chairman of the Mediterra Members’ Advisory Board. “This agreement puts our club on firm financial footing and restores Mediterra’s position as Naples’ premier private club community with recreational amenities that are second to none.”
The sales agreement includes The Club at Mediterra and its two Tom Fazio-designed championship golf courses, an 1,800-square-foot golf learning center with short-game practice area, a 25,000-square-foot clubhouse, named best clubhouse twice by the Collier Building Industry Association, and a Sports Club with five Har-Tru tennis courts, an outdoor pool, three spa rooms and a recently expanded fitness center. It also includes the private Mediterra Beach Club on the Gulf of Mexico with an elevated swimming pool, expansive sundeck and indoor and al fresco dining overlooking 200 feet of shoreline.
“While this has been an incredibly difficult process for everyone involved, it has created a unity and bond among all the residents and members in Mediterra that sets our community apart as a very special place to live,” said Schmidt.
“Today’s agreement represents a significant step toward resolving the financial challenges facing our company due to the global economic crisis and the dramatic downturn in the Southwest Florida real estate market,” said David Lucas, chairman of Bonita Bay Group. “We sincerely appreciate the dedicated and professional leadership of the Mediterra Members’ Advisory Board throughout this process and hope to be successful working with the members of other clubs to achieve the best possible resolution to the mutual challenges we face.”
Lucas said the agreement at Mediterra is consistent with the company’s restructuring plan and amended credit facility with its senior lending group. The company remains committed to continuing negotiations with the advisory boards of its other membership clubs in Southwest Florida to achieve mutually beneficial agreements.
Mediterra is a 1,697-acre community that has been named Community of the Year by the Collier Building Industry Association five times, received the Award of Excellence for Open Spaces from the Florida Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects and has been honored with the Environmental Leaders in Golf Award from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America and Golf Digest magazine in the private course category. It has been named by Golf Magazine as one of The 50 Best Golf Communities in America and by Travel & Leisure Golf as one of the top 100 golf communities in America for four consecutive years. It was the first-ever 36-hole course to earn Audubon International’s Silver Signature Sanctuary status.

Source: Jennifer Laderer, Director of Marketing, 239.390.1199, JenniferL@BonitaBayGroup.com