Woodcrest Country Club Closed-Door Auction Draws Members' Ire

With less than two weeks before Woodcrest Country Club goes to auction, a group of members of the bankrupt club are waging a last-ditch court battle to attend what’s currently a closed auction.

Former club president Irvin E. Richter and former treasurer Steven Angstreich filed a motion in court to get a seat at the table for the auction, which is currently closed to anyone but bidders, bankruptcy trustee Bonnie Fatell and representatives of Sun National Bank, which holds more than $11 million of the club's debt, but Fatell struck back with an opposing motion this week, court documents show.

The fight for a spot in the auction has stretched out over the last three weeks, according to the motion filed by attorney William Mackin, who represents Richter and Angstreich, with Fatell denying them access outside the courts via email and phone conversations.

With a judge’s order the last shot at changing those circumstances, Mackin argued the club’s membership deserves representation at the May 20 auction.

“The debtor and its membership have an ongoing interest in the firsthand observation of the conduct of the auction sale to ensure that the proper procedures are followed in the sale process and in being informed by its own counsel and representative as to the outcome of the auction sale,” Mackin wrote in his filing to U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Judith Wizmur.

Fatell, however, called the move both belated and objectionable otherwise in her response, which was filed Monday.

“The debtor’s estate will be well-represented at the auction by the estate’s court-approved fiduciary, the trustee,” she wrote. “Because of this, there is no reason for the debtor’s representatives to attend the auction…furthermore, to the extent that the debtor’s representatives are concerned with the conduct of the auction, the auction will be conducted on the record and a transcript of the auction will be created.”

Further, Fatell wrote the rationales behind Richter and Angstreich’s motion “ring hollow” and said having them in attendance could hurt the auction.

“To let the debtor’s representatives attend in a fashion outside the established bid procedures invites late attendance by mere onlookers, potentially chilling bidding and adversely affecting the outcome of the auction,” she wrote.

A third member of the club, David Farber, who hasn’t filed to attend the auction, voiced his support for his fellow members through a letter from his attorneys, and expressed disappointment at Fatell’s move to keep the auction behind locked doors, calling it “antithetical to our justice system.”

“Mr. Farber has watched as legal fees mount while everyone piles onto the corpse that was once the Woodcrest Country Club,” attorney Adam D. Greenberg wrote. “Put into layman’s terms, does anyone really care whether or not Messrs. Mackin, Richter and Angstreich attend the auction? What difference could it possible make other than an extra place setting or two?”

A ruling would have to be made in less than a week, with bid qualifications due May 16. There was no indication when Wizmur might hear the motions.

Several bidders—including Cherry Hill township itself—have already expressed their interest publicly in the auction, which has a minimum bid of $6.25 million. With fees on top of that, a bidder will likely need to put up closer to $6.5 million or more just to get into the proceeding, which is scheduled to take place at the Philadelphia offices of Blank Rome, the law firm where Fatell works.

Township officials have said they’ll do everything they can to preserve the club as open space, and have voiced total opposition to changing the zoning on the 155-acre club, which is currently zoned institutional.

While that would allow for development on a limited scope—primarily medical or educational complexes—township officials have enlisted the county’s help in trying to purchase the club and leave it undeveloped.

“What happens to a site like this is very, very important to all of us,” Mayor Chuck Cahn said previously.

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