The Bridges' Investor Buys Into Beleaguered High-End Golf Facility



OURAY COUNTY – Cornerstone Colorado, the private golf community between Montrose and Telluride that recently closed, may have a new future.

A group of investors from Arkansas and Nashville, Tenn., including the owner of The Bridges Golf Club in Montrose, Lew Thompson, has purchased the majority of assets at Cornerstone, according to the property's broker, Beckie Pendergrass.

The purchased assets include some platted lots, a large portion of open land, cabins and the clubhouse. The purchase of the golf course and remaining assets are scheduled to close within 60 days pending the satisfactory completion of their due diligence in working with the Cornerstone Metro District, she said.

Although the golf course has not yet be purchased, it is still being maintained, but remains closed. If obtained by the new group, they plan to maintain Cornerstone as the high-end private golf facility that it was before closing, Pendergrass said.

"The group saw Cornerstone as a great opportunity even in this economical climate, and are looking forward to taking ownership of the entire property and being part of the Telluride/Montrose communities," she said.

The Bridges' general manager, Eric Feely, has been named interim general manager of Cornerstone. Feely did not return messages for comment by press time.

Cornerstone, a 6,000-acre golf community, went into foreclosure in March, at which time it went under the control of Cobalt Companies, a Salt Lake City firm that acquires distressed real-estate notes.

The property has bounced around several firms in the past few years.

In December of 2011, it sold for an undisclosed amount to SilverLeaf Financial of Salt Lake City. Cobalt took hold of Cornerstone after SilverLeaf breached its loan covenant.

That foreclosure didn't affect the homeowners within the golf community, but did include 69 of the 125-fully improved lots and an additional 287 lots in various levels of improvement within the development.

In June, Cobalt decided to close the golf course and cease operations. Most of the 30 employees at the resort were laid off, with only a small crew staying behind to maintain the property.

Prior to SilverLeaf, Cornerstone was a subsidiary of Hunt Reality Investments of Hunt Oil Company out of Dallas.



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