Norcross Announces Bid for Woodcrest Country Club

Camden County's most well-known Democratic power broker has stepped into the Woodcrest Country Club bankruptcy proceedings.

An investment group headed up by George E. Norcross III, the longtime head of the county Democratic Party and executive chairman of insurance company Connor Strong and Buckelew, and high-profile Pennsylvania investor Ira Lubert is one of the registered bidders in Monday's auction for the club, Norcross announced Saturday morning.

A former member at Woodcrest himself, Norcross, who lives less than two miles from the course, said he's committed to restoring and reopening the club, which originally opened in 1929.

“This is more than a golf club, it’s a community landmark,” said Norcross in a statement. “If successful in our bid, we plan to immediately sit down with neighbors and community leaders here and work together to restore Woodcrest to its former stature and prominence.”

The announcement comes on the heels of Camden County and Cherry Hill officials joining forces to enter the auction in an effort to preserve the club as open space and prevent future development there.

But township officials have repeatedly said they would prefer a private group come in to buy the club and run it as a golf course, which Norcross and Lubert said they would do.

“We see this as an opportunity to make an important and long-term investment in the local community,” said Lubert, who is the co-founder of investment firm Lubert-Adler and runs the Valley Forge Casino Resort. “If successful, the acquisition will be privately funded.”

Norcross and Lubert are among four registered bidders for the club, which declared bankruptcy just over a year ago, and was shut down late this winter after its financial situation was deemed untenable by bankruptcy trustee Bonnie Fatell, whose law firm, Blank Rome, is holding the auction.

At least one other bidder, the Union League of Philadelphia, has indicated an interest in keeping Woodcrest as a golf course. Other interested bidders include developer Bruce E. Toll and a group made up of members of the Brown family, which owns Sun National Bank, the golf club's largest creditor.

Monday's auction comes with a minimum bid of $6.25 million, and the winner would need to put up several hundred thousand in fees on top of that. Sun National Bank is also able to credit-bid the debt it holds on the club, which is roughly $11.8 million.

For more on this story, read:

• End Comes for Woodcrest Country Club
• Possible Bidders File in Woodcrest Country Club Auction: Report
• Cherry Hill Calls for Tax Sale in Woodcrest Country Club Bankruptcy
• Woodcrest Country Club Could Go to Auction in May
• Woodcrest Country Club Goes to Auction May 20
• Woodcrest Country Club Closed-Door Auction Draws Members' Ire
• Woodcrest Bankruptcy Auction Turns Political
• Woodcrest Auction Bid Approved by Camden County Freeholders