Insurance and financial services giant MetLife said Wednesday it has an agreement to acquire Reynolds Plantation and will put in place an Alabama developer with Atlanta ties to operate the posh golf community.
New York-based MetLife said its agreement includes six golf courses, four marinas, nearly 5,000 acres of undeveloped land and the Ritz-Carlton Lodge at Lake Oconee, located about 80 miles east of downtown Atlanta. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Birmingham-based Daniel Corp. will oversee Reynolds Plantation. Daniel and MetLife have a 25-year relationship and the two companies are partners on 12th & Midtown, a complex of office, retail, condos and a luxury hotel near Peachtree and 12th streets.
Last month, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, citing persons familiar with the deal, reported that Daniel was part of group that was in the lead to buy Reynolds Plantation out of receivership.
“This is a premier community with world-class amenities, a great reputation and a strong future,” Robert Merck, senior managing director and head of real estate investments for MetLife, said in a news release.
Reynolds Plantation has 3,600 property owners and has long been a vacation and retirement destination for wealthy Atlantans.
In February 2011, Linger Longer Development Co. Chairman and Reynolds Plantation developer Mercer Reynolds notified members that the company's lenders were demanding repayment of debt and offered to sell the members the community's golf courses, marinas and other public areas for $45 million.
The members declined and in May of last year, a bank-appointed receiver was hired to operate the clubs and market the community and thousands of acres of undeveloped land.
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