Discovery Land Company

According to the Wall Street Journal, Farallon Capital Management is planning a restructure.

Some are wondering whether this could impact Bakers Bay Club. According to sources, Farallon Capital Management has been a key investor in Discovery Land Company projects.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Farallon's assets have declined by 40%. This paragraph seems to indicate that Farallon may cut its real estate assets.

"Other changes could be coming. Farallon's real-estate holdings that declined in 2008 didn't bounce back in 2009 the same way the firm's credit holdings did. Farallon executives have talked about restructuring or selling about $2.5 billion in existing real-estate assets, among other options, a person close to the matter says."

We'll be sure to stay on top of this news and its potential impact on Bakers Bay.

Link to NY Times Blog Post
Link to WSJ Post

I was not surprised to find that the Spokesman Review, the newspaper covering North Idaho, finds Discovery Land Company developments distasteful. For a year, Notes from the Road has argued that Discovery Land Company builds trashy mega-developments that do not fit in to the local environment or culture at all. This is especially true at Guana Cay, where the development's proposed style is so distasteful that it will irreparably harm the local tourism economy, which relies on idyllic qualities, natural beauty, and an old architecture steeped in history.

This is what the Spokesman Review says about the Bakers Bay Club sister project:

"The resort – which seems ripped from the golf Mecca of Palm Desert and plunked in a former hayfield – caters to an average client that Chesrown describes as a 46-year-old incredibly wealthy workaholic with a big ego and passion for golf. This typical client owns numerous homes and is looking for a distant summer getaway the whole family savors. Some people compare these golf communities to a Disney World for adults but with family-friendly activities."

| January 17 , 2006

Cordevalle Golf Club, also a white-trash Discovery Land Company project, was found in violation of their 1996 use permit. According to Unfarralon.info,

"The San Jose Mercury News identifies Farallon and developers Haas & Haynie as the principal partners of a luxury golf club in San Martin, Santa Clara County.[1] Once called “Lions Gate,” the development was opened as Cordevalle Golf Club and Resort in 1999.[2] 

In 2002, the Santa Clara County planning commission discovered that Cordevalle was in violation of its 1996 use permit. First, the commissioners contended, the golf course never honored its commitment to reserve 60% of the total rounds on an annual basis for public use.[3] Instead, it offered invitation-only individual memberships priced at $250,000. Second, it failed to carry out a host of environmental protections promised in 1996. The Planning Commission held a series of public hearings to determine whether to revoke or revise Cordevalle’s use permit. "

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