Bank takes over Horseshoe Bend club

By Patrick Fox

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Horseshoe Bend Country Club in Roswell is under new management. Capmark Bank took over ownership of the financially strapped property Tuesday after a courthouse auction failed to raise the multi-million-dollar asking price.

New managers, Private Club Associates of Alpharetta, have moved in and begun work.

"We're going to try to improve the asset for Capmark," said Anthony Mullins, partner with Private Club. "There will be improvements made to the quality of the facility and the member experiences."

The former owner, Rob Barnett, who bought the club from the original developer 24 years ago, had been fighting to keep the property since he held off a foreclosure in April 2007. A U.S. bankruptcy judge in Atlanta dismissed the club owner's Chapter 11 bankruptcy just hours before it was due to be auctioned off on the courthouse steps because of nonpayment on an $8.3 million loan.

Horseshoe Bend got its name from the fact that Chattahoochee River wraps around the neighborhood like a horseshoe. Five holes on the scenic golf course are along the river. The 109-acre club and golf course are not affiliated with the Horseshoe Bend neighborhood, but they weigh in the market price of the 1,200 homes there, many valued in the high six figures.

More than a dozen country club members and nearby residents attended a bankruptcy court hearing recently to oppose the former owner's attempt to retain control.

Efforts to reach homeowner's association members were unsuccessful late Wednesday, but Mullins said he has received positive responses in the short time he's been on site.

"The feedback we've gotten so far is very positive within the membership," he said. "We really want to work closely with the community to grow the membership and re-establish the club as one of the most successful in the area."