Source: The News Journal (Wilmington, Del.)
Citing "financial challenges," Davis G. Sezna, the Wilmington entrepreneur, golfer and restaurant owner who built a popular hospitality chain, confirmed Thursday that he plans to sell Hartefeld National golf course in Avondale, Pa.
Sezna, 51, also said he is in discussions to sell Kid Shelleen's restaurant in Wilmington and Klondike Kate's Restaurant and Saloon in Newark. Sezna has owned Shelleen's since 1984 and Klondike Kate's since 1980.
A letter of intent for Hartefeld National and another Sezna property, Mountain Branch Golf Course in Harford County, Md., has been signed with Sawyer Realty Holdings LLC, said Dale Okonow, chief operating officer for Sawyer, which has dual headquarters in College Park, Md., and Needham, Mass. Okonow said the company hopes to close by mid-January.
The Columbus Inn on Pennsylvania Avenue in Wilmington, which is owned by Sezna's mother, Jean, is not part of the sale discussions, Sezna said. Sezna's father, the late Walter W. "Wally" Sezna, an area golfing personality, bought the historic Columbus Inn in 1955.
"It's no secret that I have faced both personal and financial challenges over the last several years, particularly on the business side, in the golf industry, in which I have been heavily invested," Sezna said.
Sezna declined to say who might purchase Shelleen's and Kate's, but said "there's a good chance we will be asked back as managers."
Sezna said his golf course properties "needed to be refinanced." He described the possible restaurant deal as a "form of refinancing." Those close to the deals said Sezna had been working with Wilmington Trust Co., to which he owes money. Bill Benintende, spokesman for Wilmington Trust, said it is bank policy not to comment on client matters.
Sezna said he is the principal in the companies that own the properties. Each of the properties, which operate under the banner of the 1492 Hospitality Group, is controlled by a different company.
Sawyer Realty is a private company that owns and operates about 24,000 apartments in Massachusetts, the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area, New Jersey, North Carolina, Florida and Alabama. Sawyer plans to make Hartefeld a private course with the restaurant open to the public, Okonow said. Hartefeld National and Mountain Branch will be the first golf courses in Sawyer's portfolio.
Charles Raskob Robinson of New York City, whose banking family owned the majority of the land from which the upscale 18-hole Hartefeld was developed in the early 1990s, said he is scheduled to meet with representatives from Sawyer.
The Robinson family continues to be a landowner in the area. What is now the Hartefeld clubhouse was built in 1953 as the Robinson family home. Hartefeld opened in 1995.
"It's my clear understanding that this new group plans to build on what Davis has already created," Robinson said. "Everybody, including these new would-be owners, has great respect for what Davis has created."
Mountain Branch in Joppa, Md., opened in November 2000, is a public, daily-fee course. It also has a restaurant.
Exelon Corp., the Chicago-based electric utility that has sponsored the Exelon Invitational golf exhibition at Hartefeld since 2003, has been notified informally about the sale, the company said Thursday. The next golf exhibition, hosted by Jim Furyk, winner of the 2003 U.S. Open, is scheduled for June.
"There's no concern about the sale. We'll be there," said Eleanor Kubacki, chief executive of EFK Group in Trenton, which runs the event.
People familiar with the restaurant deal said Sezna has been in discussions with automobile dealer John Hynansky, chief executive of the 14-dealership Winner Automotive Group, which is based in Wilmington.
Charles B. Tomlinson Jr., director of marketing and business development with Winner, said Thursday he was not aware of "any final arrangements or deal."
