Cyrus firm emerges from Chapter 11

Published 5:00 am Wednesday, August 31, 2011

The holding company that owns the clubhouse and land under Aspen Lakes Golf Course in Sisters has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Wildhorse Meadows LLC, which is owned by Sisters’ Cyrus family, and its creditors have agreed to restructure nearly $5 million in debt, according to court records.

Judge Elizabeth Perris of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Portland approved the deal Tuesday, allowing for Wildhorse Meadows to emerge after filing for bankruptcy protection in January.

The Cyrus family also owns the golf course, which does business as a separate entity, Aspen Lakes Golf Course LLC. Wildhorse Meadows acts as Aspen Lakes’ landlord.

The deal will help keep Aspen Lakes on solid footing for the foreseeable future, said Matt Cyrus, co-owner of Aspen Lakes and Wildhorse Meadows.

“We ended up with a result as good as what we had hoped,” Cyrus said Tuesday.

Wildhorse Meadows owes $4.6 million to Medford-based PremierWest Bank, borrowed primarily to build Aspen Lakes’ clubhouse, which opened in 2008.

Wildhorse Meadows filed for Chapter 11 on Jan. 20, one day before a public sale of the property was planned. PremierWest had sent a notice of default in March 2010 to begin the foreclosure process.

Al Kennedy, Wildhorse Meadows’ Portland-based attorney, said that PremierWest was an amicable partner in restructuring the loan.

“PremierWest was certainly cooperative in negotiating the plan when we got to that position,” Kennedy said.

The Central Oregon golf industry has been hit hard by the economic downturn that began in 2007.

Remington Ranch, a destination resort development near Powell Butte that finished half of its first course, Wicked Pony, began the reorganization process in 2010. The Greens at Redmond filed for protection in 2009.

In addition to the bankruptcies, Thrivent Financial foreclosed on Bend’s private Broken Top Club in November.

Juniper Golf Course, the city of Redmond’s municipal golf course, fell behind on its construction bond payments to the city in 2009, prompting Redmond to hire California-based management company CourseCo in late 2010.

In November, Jeld-Wen Inc., a Klamath Falls-based window and door maker and a golf course resort developer, sold Eagle Crest Resort in Redmond, Brasada Ranch in Powell Butte and Running Y Ranch Resort in Klamath Falls to a joint venture of Westport, Conn.-based Northview Hotel Group and a subsidiary of funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management LP.

With the restructuring, Aspen Lakes should be on more stable footing going forward, Cyrus said.

“Basically for the next three or four years it will be a substantial savings per month,” Cyrus said. “It will allow us to be in a much more solid financial position.”

Aspen Lakes opened its first nine holes in 1997 and opened all 18 in 2000. The par-72 public course is perhaps best-known for its red-cinder bunkers.

The golf facility employs nearly 100 workers during the golf season and has an annual payroll of about $850,000, according to Aspen Lakes.

Cyrus said that after a weak spring — which Cyrus blamed on poor weather and negative publicity stemming from the bankruptcy — the course has bounced back with a strong summer.

“With the approval from the court and the plan that we are now working under, our financial stability is better than it has been the last two or three years,” Cyrus said. “We’re certainly looking forward to the next several years.”