The sale price of $4.5 million was announced in mid October 2008 with Reeves and Longfellow assuming immediate stewardship of the 300-member private club located in the heart Maine’s Mid-Coast.

“We could not imagine two more worthy or qualified people to take our work and to continue it,” said Jeff Harris, president of Bath, Maine-based Harris Golf, which purchased Boothbay CC in 1994.

When the firm purchased the property in 1994, Boothbay CC was a public, nine-hole course. Harris Golf subsequently renovated the Wayne Stiles nine, added a new one, took the club semi-private, developed 21 lots, and either courted or hosted prestigious tournaments such as the 2005 Maine Amateur. In 2007, the club went fully private and capped membership at 300.

The deal financing was arranged by the Savings Bank of Maine.

“We are proud — thrilled — to work with Harris Golf,” said Arthur Markos, president of Savings Bank of Maine. In the present unsettled economic climate, Markos says it is a sign of Savings Bank of Maine’s stability. “The Boothbay transaction underscores the wisdom of keeping business — at all levels — local.”

“Good deals always get done, and this is a good deal,” Harris added. “This shows that credit markets aren’t dry when cash flows are demonstrable. It also shows that golf in Maine remains a viable business. We continue to see opportunity here because our visions for new projects and the transformation of existing properties are always based on the realities of specific markets.”

Harris Golf Group, based in Bath, Maine, is one of New England’s premier course development, construction and management companies. It operates Freeport Country Club adjacent to world famous L.L. Bean; the award-winning Sunday River Golf Club in Newry, Maine; Penobscot Valley Country Club in Orono, Maine; and the new Old Marsh Golf Club in Wells, Maine.

Photograph by course photographer Larry Lambrecht

What can you tell us about the International Inn?

The 141 unit hotel actually had 175 units back in the 70’s and 80’s.  It was bought in 1985 by Arthur Rittel who re-constructed the building over and over combining rooms into suites and then even larger and more dramatic suites. Many of the rooms have huge flat screen TV’s, columned bathrooms, Victorian furniture and 15 inch crown moldings.

These rooms combined with the power marketing of the Cuddle and Bubble theme produced the highest grossing hotel in the Hyannis area for many years. At the time of the sale, however, other hotels in the area had taken market share. The decline was a sign of the complete obsolescence and failure of print media advertising which the operation relied upon. 

You have brokered the sales of numerous lodging properties on Cape Cod since the 1990’s. Why is this hotel sale significant?

The sale of the International Inn was a major event for Hyannis and Cape Cod. While the press makes comparisons to the Great Depression and predictions of a 1929 style crash, there are people who are still endeavoring to do business and carving out a path.

At $41,135 per key, the sale price ranks up there based on historical price levels. What are your thoughts on that?

The income at the time of the sale did not justify the price. But the owners are very experienced and the elements of success are clearly there. That is what the real story of this sale was,  the positive venture in a time when the press is playing Chicken Little.

The 3.17 acre property is exempt from the Cape Cod Commission which means that it is not obstructed from having a new building of up to four stories with a parking garage under.  There are only two small territories on the Cape which have been granted this immunity. So far it has led to the construction of several commercial / residential buildings and a new Hampton Inn.

So there are intrinsic options with the property itself but the reason for the purchase was to rejuvenate a uniquely themed operation which had lost it’s dominant position.

What are some of the additional transactions details?

The buyers own a Hampton Inn and a Super Eight in Stamford, CT as well as three hotels in India. There are several partners in the venture and they have stated that they consider the theme distinctive and plan to keep it.

The sale was financed by $3.0 Million from The Community Bank, arranged personally by Eric Bancroft along with $1.9 Million from Matt Collins through an SBA Lender, Granite State Development. The property was valued in 2004 at $10.4 Million.