Inland Real Estate Auctions will be auctioning the renowned Otsego Club Hotel & Resort, home to The Tribute Golf Course. The auction, set to take place on Oct. 25, follows the announcement of second-generation owner Keith Gornick that he plans to retire in 2006.
The winner of the auction will own not only the ski, golf and vacation facility nestled at the top of the Sturgeon River Valley in the alpine village of Gaylord, Mich., but also 1,100 acres of fully zoned development land and an approved Planned Unit Development permitting the construction of brand new single-family homes.
“This is a prime development opportunity that has already undergone seven years of development groundwork,” says Paul Rogers, vice president of Inland Real Estate Auctions. “The difficult work has been done, and this affords the developer what is essentially a ‘turn-key’ land play.”
“This auction represents two growing trends in the industry,” says Frank Diliberto, president and c.e.o. of Inland Real Estate Auctions. “First, in just the last 18 months more and more owners of entitled development land have been turning to the auction process -- on the eve of construction -- to sell the labor they have put into the development process. Secondly, the use of the auction process to sell high-value, nationally-renowned trophy properties has surged as the real estate auction industry has grown more than five-fold during the last couple decades.”
Inland Real Estate Auctions, Inc. has garnered significant media attention recently for several notable auctions, including another major development property – plans for a 26-story condominium and retail tower in red-hot San Diego’s most trendy neighborhood.
Like an ever-increasing number of property owners with trophy properties to sell, Keith Gornick, the second-generation owner of the resort, chose the auction method because the auction process can produce a sale much more swiftly than the conventional sales method.
”A negotiated sale can take years, and the conventional sales process doesn’t flush out the phonies and the fakers,” Gornick says. “One can spend an inordinate amount of time in negotiation to find out a person doesn’t have the ability to close the sale. The auction process is truly the most fair and least disruptive because it gives a clear announcement to all players that there’s a timeline, and that it’s all equal. And I firmly believe it is especially fair for staff, golf patrons and ski club members in that it is truly the least disruptive of all sales processes.”
Gornick hopes a faster sale will facilitate his retirement, allowing him to focus on his numerous other business interests while enjoying more time with his wife and young daughter. The Gornick family will remain in Gaylord and active in Northern Michigan.
Voted by readers of the Detroit News as “Michigan’s Best Golf Resort,” Otsego Club is home to 36 holes of championship golf. Lodging is offered in one of 117 hotel rooms, suites or new condominiums on the property.
Otsego Club is equally well known as a leading winter destination, boasting the Midwest’s only full-service private ski facility with 27 runs, five chairlifts and top-notch, challenging terrain.
The auction will be held at the Westin Detroit Metro Airport in Romulus, Michigan.
The auction terms can be found in bidders’ information packages available to bidders from Inland Real Estate Auctions, Inc.
For more information, visit www.inlandgroup.com.
