Chestnut Ridge Golf Resort & Conference Center sold to an online bidder Saturday for $2.4 million.
But the winning bidder’s identity will not be available until paperwork and payment is finalized, said Sherman Hostetter, owner of Hostetter Auctioneers of Beaver Falls. The auction of the 345-acre golf course and resort just across the Westmoreland County line near Blairsville attracted a lot of attention. He said 15 people were in the room during the auction and about 60 others had registered to bid online.
“The marketing really worked. There was a lot of interest,” he said.
The Indiana County course has been owned by Thomas J. Usher, 77, of Oakmont, a former U.S. Steel executive, since 2008. He said in a statement before the auction that he wanted to simplify his investments and put the course under new ownership.
Bidding started at $500,000 before jumping to $1 million. Hostetter said there were a few bidders who inched the price up to the final bid amount. At one point, he and Usher left the room to discuss the bidding process, as is typical protocol with sellers, Hostetter said.
“The seller was willing to sell it” so the bidding continued, he said.
After about 35 minutes of back-and-forth, the course appears to be in new hands.
The property includes a 36-hole golf course, 48,000-square-foot clubhouse, restaurant and banquet facility and is located just south of the intersection of routes 22 and 119 in Burrell Township.
Total revenue in 2019 was $2.75 million, including $1.8 million from food and beverage sales and $709,000 in golf revenue, according to auction materials. Golfers played more than 23,000 rounds, and the property hosted 132 conferences and 35 weddings. There are about 100 employees.
Usher owns the property through his company, Chestnut Ridge Golf LP. He obtained a $6.1 million mortgage from his company in October 2014, then received a partial release of the mortgage in May 2019, according to documents filed with the Indiana County Recorder of Deeds. Chestnut Ridge Golf Club bought the former farmland in 1963 for $100,000.
