Dream owner seeks to sell franchise

By CHRIS VIVLAMORE

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta Dream owner Ron Terwilliger has informed the WNBA that he would like to relinquish his position as primary owner, but he intends to remain an investor in the women’s basketball franchise.

Terwilliger could not be reached for comment Tuesday. The team issued the following statement: “Ron Terwilliger has been seeking investment partners for the Atlanta Dream since early in 2008 and has indicated that he is willing to stay involved with the team even if other significant investors decide to make a major investment in the team.”

Since 1986, Terwilliger has been chairman and chief executive officer of Atlanta-based Trammell Crow Residential, one of the nation’s largest developers of apartments and condominiums. Commercial real estate has been hard hit by the economic downturn.

“His heart was in the right place, but life changed on him,” said Bob Hope, part of an informal group from Atlanta charged with finding a new lead owner.

A.J. Robinson, president of Central Atlanta Progress, a prominent downtown business group, also is part of the group with Hope, president of the Hope-Beckham public relations firm. Hope and Robinson were part of the original 12-person group that pursued a WNBA team for the city and received an expansion franchise two years ago.

Last season the Dream made their debut and finished with a league-worst 4-30 record. They are 10-10 this season.

Terwilliger has relocated to New York and has had unspecified changes that prevent him from being actively involved with the team and in the Atlanta community, according to Hope.

Calls to WNBA president Donna Orender were not returned.

Hope and Robinson said they said do not expect the search for a new owner to last long. They already have assembled a list of potential candidates.

“[The new owner] must have the financial resources to do it along with the passion to do it,” Hope said.

They also believe the search for a new investor does not mean the demise of the franchise.

“I do think that if Mr. Terwilliger is looking for partners, we won’t have any trouble finding one,” Robinson said. “Mr. [Arthur] Blank recently had some new investors with the Falcons. I don’t see that as being any different.”