Lakeside Park Club is tucked away off Lakeside Avenue. (BizSense file)
The sale of a Henrico golf and tennis club to an out-of-state suitor has fallen through.
Lakeside Park Club, formerly Jefferson Lakeside Country Club, confirmed this week that its talks to sell the club to North Carolina-based McConnell Golf have been called off.
That ends a potential deal that would have put the Henrico club under ownership by someone other than its members for the first time in its 100-plus year history.
McConnell, which owns 15 golf courses in three states, including two in Virginia, first approached LPC about a deal in the fall of 2022. The club had not been actively for sale. Then earlier this year it submitted a letter of intent to purchase the club and its 127 acres at 1700 Lakeside Ave.
Negotiations had been underway through late May, before McConnell pulled out of the deal, according to Ed Riley, president of LPC.
“We went through our due diligence period and reached the determination to walk away from the opportunity,” Riley said. “It was more them walking away because it would have worked well for (the club).
Ed Riley
“They have a way of doing business, which I admire, and they like to get things done quickly and didn’t feel like they could get things where they wanted as quickly as they wanted,” he said of McConnell.
McConnell representatives could not be reached for comment by press time.
Initial terms of the deal called for McConnell to pay $2.6 million for the club, equal to the amount of LPC’s outstanding debt. The club’s real estate, which sits near Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, was most recently assessed by Henrico County at around $1 million.
McConnell also would have committed to investing up to $3 million for capital improvements to the club’s facilities over three years.
The deal would have allowed LPC to remain a private club and all current members would be offered membership with no new initiation fees required.
Members would have forfeited their equity in the current club as part of the deal. Dues would have remained at their current rates for two years.
Once LPC was under McConnell ownership, the company would agree to fund any annual operating losses at the club.
Members would have had the right to repurchase the club from McConnell within the first five years after closing for a price equal to the amount invested by McConnell, plus an annual 8 percent fee.
McConnell also would have allowed LPC’s full golf members to play up to 12 times a year at McConnell’s other clubs with no additional greens fees. Its other Virginia clubs are Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech in Radford, and Water’s Edge Country Club in Penhook. The bulk of its other courses are in North Carolina.
The clubhouse at Lakeside Park Club, the awning of which still bears the old Jefferson Lakeside name. (BizSense file photo)
LPC’s golf course opened around 1915 on land that had been owned by Richmond businessman Lewis Ginter. The club was initially known as Lakeside Country Club and opened as a Jewish country club at a time when Jews weren’t welcome at other clubs in town. It became known as Jefferson Lakeside through a combination with The Jefferson Club, which was originally downtown and also catered to Richmond’s Jewish community.
The club changed its name from Jefferson Lakeside Country Club to Lakeside Park Club in 2020, in a bid to appeal to a wider audience.
With the McConnell deal off the table, Riley said LPC is back to business as usual, especially considering that the club hadn’t been actively looking to sell in the first place.
“We’re still moving forward as we were before McConnell came into the picture. We were never for sale and we’re not for sale,” he said.
The club has been in the midst of a round of improvements, including converting two of its five clay tennis courts into hard courts that can be used for both tennis and pickleball, the latter of which is exploding in popularity, including in Richmond. The hard-court surface will also allow for year-round play, which currently isn’t available on the all-clay courts.
Riley, who in his day job is a local trial attorney with law firm Riley & Wells, has been a member at the club for 23 years.
He said LPC has around 380 members currently. Monthly dues currently range from $159-$489. Initiation fees range from $1,000 to $3,000.
While the McConnell deal would have brought with it certain financial benefits, Riley said the club can live without it.
“You could always use more members, just like every club. But we’re on sound footing,” he said.
Riley said there are no other current discussions about a sale of the club, though he didn’t rule it out completely should another buyer come knocking.
“I think the door is shut is a fair way to put, but it’s never locked,” he said.
Lakeside Park Club is tucked away off Lakeside Avenue. (BizSense file)
The sale of a Henrico golf and tennis club to an out-of-state suitor has fallen through.
Lakeside Park Club, formerly Jefferson Lakeside Country Club, confirmed this week that its talks to sell the club to North Carolina-based McConnell Golf have been called off.
That ends a potential deal that would have put the Henrico club under ownership by someone other than its members for the first time in its 100-plus year history.
McConnell, which owns 15 golf courses in three states, including two in Virginia, first approached LPC about a deal in the fall of 2022. The club had not been actively for sale. Then earlier this year it submitted a letter of intent to purchase the club and its 127 acres at 1700 Lakeside Ave.
Negotiations had been underway through late May, before McConnell pulled out of the deal, according to Ed Riley, president of LPC.
“We went through our due diligence period and reached the determination to walk away from the opportunity,” Riley said. “It was more them walking away because it would have worked well for (the club).
Ed Riley
“They have a way of doing business, which I admire, and they like to get things done quickly and didn’t feel like they could get things where they wanted as quickly as they wanted,” he said of McConnell.
McConnell representatives could not be reached for comment by press time.
Initial terms of the deal called for McConnell to pay $2.6 million for the club, equal to the amount of LPC’s outstanding debt. The club’s real estate, which sits near Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, was most recently assessed by Henrico County at around $1 million.
McConnell also would have committed to investing up to $3 million for capital improvements to the club’s facilities over three years.
The deal would have allowed LPC to remain a private club and all current members would be offered membership with no new initiation fees required.
Members would have forfeited their equity in the current club as part of the deal. Dues would have remained at their current rates for two years.
Once LPC was under McConnell ownership, the company would agree to fund any annual operating losses at the club.
Members would have had the right to repurchase the club from McConnell within the first five years after closing for a price equal to the amount invested by McConnell, plus an annual 8 percent fee.
McConnell also would have allowed LPC’s full golf members to play up to 12 times a year at McConnell’s other clubs with no additional greens fees. Its other Virginia clubs are Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech in Radford, and Water’s Edge Country Club in Penhook. The bulk of its other courses are in North Carolina.
The clubhouse at Lakeside Park Club, the awning of which still bears the old Jefferson Lakeside name. (BizSense file photo)
LPC’s golf course opened around 1915 on land that had been owned by Richmond businessman Lewis Ginter. The club was initially known as Lakeside Country Club and opened as a Jewish country club at a time when Jews weren’t welcome at other clubs in town. It became known as Jefferson Lakeside through a combination with The Jefferson Club, which was originally downtown and also catered to Richmond’s Jewish community.
The club changed its name from Jefferson Lakeside Country Club to Lakeside Park Club in 2020, in a bid to appeal to a wider audience.
With the McConnell deal off the table, Riley said LPC is back to business as usual, especially considering that the club hadn’t been actively looking to sell in the first place.
“We’re still moving forward as we were before McConnell came into the picture. We were never for sale and we’re not for sale,” he said.
The club has been in the midst of a round of improvements, including converting two of its five clay tennis courts into hard courts that can be used for both tennis and pickleball, the latter of which is exploding in popularity, including in Richmond. The hard-court surface will also allow for year-round play, which currently isn’t available on the all-clay courts.
Riley, who in his day job is a local trial attorney with law firm Riley & Wells, has been a member at the club for 23 years.
He said LPC has around 380 members currently. Monthly dues currently range from $159-$489. Initiation fees range from $1,000 to $3,000.
While the McConnell deal would have brought with it certain financial benefits, Riley said the club can live without it.
“You could always use more members, just like every club. But we’re on sound footing,” he said.
Riley said there are no other current discussions about a sale of the club, though he didn’t rule it out completely should another buyer come knocking.
“I think the door is shut is a fair way to put, but it’s never locked,” he said.