Calmwater Capital, a real estate bridge lender based in El Segundo, California, acquired Banyan Cay Resort & Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, after a prior buyer dropped out.
This story was originally reported by Golf Inc. magazine.
Banyan Cay has a tumultuous history, dating back to 2015, when Domenic Gatto, Jr., the previous developer, obtained approval from the city to build on the site. The plans at the time were for a Hyatt-branded hotel, a 170-unit condominium, 28 single-family homes and 22 villas.
The golf course opened two years later, but construction on the rest of the project ceased when Gallo became embroiled in a number of lawsuits for alleged nonpayment of contractors.
A subsequent unrelated charge of federal conspiracy to commit health care fraud delayed the project even further, ultimately resulting in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in March 2023.
Westside Investment Partners, a Denver-based real estate investment firm, then pledged to buy the property for $102.1 million following approval from bankruptcy court, but backed out of the deal in July, leaving the property without an owner. This triggered a clause that allowed Calmwater Capital, the largest creditor for the property, to become the next in line to acquire the project.
The club is a mixed-use property that has sat unfinished for some time, with a completed golf course and partially built hotel on the site. Resources are immediately being devoted to finish development of the hotel, spa and fitness center and reopen the golf course.
Located in the center of West Palm Beach, the key feature of the property is Jack Nicklaus’s 300th Signature 18-hole course. Extensive renovations to restore the golf course have already begun and include aeration and re-seeding of the course and tees, landscaping of the course and lake areas, and bunker restoration with new white sand, as well as the purchase of new maintenance equipment.
Calmwater Capital has also hired crews to complete the 150-room hotel and resort, which will feature three restaurants, a first-class spa and fitness complex, wedding venue, meeting space and banquet facilities for up to 200 people. Other amenities of the resort will include a resort-style swimming pool and pickleball courts. The hotel brand and timeline for completion will be announced at a later date.