Possible Bidders File in Woodcrest Country Club Auction: Report

Woodcrest Country Club, which has been ordered by a bankruptcy trustee to be auctioned off, could be turned into a medical campus, if a major Philadelphia-area developer wins the bid on the property, according to a Philadelphia Inquirer report.

Developer and invester Bruce E. Toll, co-founder of Toll Brothers, stepped into the process this week as a possible bidder, but wouldn’t consider trying to turn the property—currently zoned institutional—into residential, a representative told the Inquirer.

The 155-acre property has been mired in debt stemming from an ill-fated clubhouse expansion, and Sun National Bank, its largest creditor, attempted to force a sheriff’s sale last year. Woodcrest filed for bankruptcy last May to stave off that sale, but Bonnie Fatell, the Chapter 11 trustee to the club, since broke the news the club has no money to operate and will be sold.

Toll is one of just two parties to file with U.S. Bankruptcy Court as possible bidders—the other, Crestwood Property Group LLC, filed in December. Crestwood has close ties with Sun Bank—members of the Brown family, who control Sun, are the principals listed for Crestwood.

The 84-year-old club, which owes Sun alone about $11.5 million, according to its bankruptcy plan, is only valued at roughly $3.19 million by the township, according to tax records, down about a quarter-million dollars from a 2010 assessment.

A date for an auction has yet to be set, and Fatell has not yet filed a motion in court to establish terms of that auction.