UPDATED: A Carmel-based business broker working for an unknown
client has offered to buy the 536 acres of land that Gilroy Gardens
sits on, according to parties involved in the discussion.
A Carmel-based business broker working for an unknown client has offered to buy the 536 acres of land that Gilroy Gardens sits on, according to parties involved in the discussion.
The pitch from Michael Russell, president of Carmel Business Sales, comes as city officials assemble a community group to help the city council plan the future of Gilroy Gardens, something council members have identified as crucial before they make any decisions about the park or its lush surroundings. The council will hold a closed session Monday evening to consider Russell’s offer, but he declined to disclose his client’s intentions or offering price.
“We’re not trying to be coy, and I realize this is big news for the city,” Russell said Thursday. “We’re actually very excited about this, and we’re hoping in the next several days we’ll be able to give a lot more detail.”
Russell – whose company specializes in restaurant and business sales – said he expected his client’s offer to spur “wild opinions” throughout Gilroy, but in due time the details of that offer will come to light, he said. For their part, council members seemed eager to unearth the particulars Monday night.
“Who knows what this offer might be,” Councilman Craig Gartman said. “I await it with great anticipation.”
“I don’t know anything about this, but we will find out Monday night,” Mayor Al Pinheiro said, adding that the council will surely rely on the community task force to help guide any decisions it makes.
Haglund also declined to disclose the details of the offer, but he did say Russell’s client was eyeing all 536 acres that the city bought from Gilroy Gardens’ bondholders in February for $13.2 million. That was a steal for the city, Councilman Peter Arellano said, and the council needs to remember that.
“Think about how much land we bought for that amount of money,” Councilman Peter Arellano said. “Gilroy Gardens was bought for the citizens of Gilroy, and I think the task force that’s being put together should be a community effort. We shouldn’t rush into anything.”
Under state law, the council may hold a closed session to discuss only the price and the terms of payment being offered for a particular parcel of property, not the pros or cons of a hypothetical property transaction. That’s something Haglund was careful to emphasize this week.
“It’s a concrete proposal,” Haglund said Thursday.
The Gardens’ nonprofit board of directors – which leases the land at a discounted rate from the city and then contracts the park’s operations to Cedar Fair – would certainly need to be brought into the conversation, council members said, but so far the board has not heard from Russell or Russell’s client, Director Joel Goldsmith said. Still, Goldsmith planned to meet with Haglund and the park’s vice president, Barbara Granter, Thursday afternoon to discuss everything that’s going on.
“What we’re trying to do now, as a board, is figure out what we can do with the property other than park itself,” Goldsmith said. “There’s 536 acres out there, and we’re using 70 for the park and parking, but we need to get direction from the city before we go much further.”
The board’s contract with Cedar Fair expires in February 2009, and as the nonprofit plans for the future, council members have agreed with Goldsmith that the park deserves clear direction. That has become increasingly difficult, though, as Russell’s client’s offer is the second since the city bought the land and the physical park.
Parc Management, a Florida-based theme park operator, made a previous offer that a sub-committee of the city council – which includes Councilmen Perry Woodward, Dion Bracco and Bob Dillon – will discuss with the board soon. The company has indicated replacing Michael Bonfante’s struggling horticultural dream with a water park for children.
Then there’s Councilman Perry Woodward much smaller business idea, which he floated Sept. 15. He suggested the possibility of selling a roughly 10-acre parking lot to Eagle Ridge. The gated community borders the expansive and vastly under-used parking lot that serves the park’s administrative staff. Woodward suggested selling the lot to raise revenue for sidewalk repair and also to help narrow the city’s $3.9 million deficit.
With these various options swirling around – and those un-thought-of ideas the task force will generate – Gartman said it’s important for the council to keep an open mind.
“Now we have that say so in the future of that land, let’s check out all viable business opportunities,” Gartman said. “What happens if (Russell’s client) offers us enough money to pay back the $13 million and then there’s enough left over to fix the sidewalks, and additional money for finishing the sports park or the library without a bond, or the arts center without a bond.”
Money aside, council members have repeatedly stressed that they bought the Gardens for the community, so it’s only fair to see if Russell’s client has an idea that will benefit the community.
GILROY GARDENS LAND BREAKDOWN
– 350 acres – Open Space
– 70 acres – Gilroy Gardens Theme Park, including actual park, parking and maintenance & operations buildings
– 116 acres – existing developable space
– 536 acres – Total
