'777' may be a lucky number in Vegas but not for the Stirling Club, also known as The Mansion at Turnberry Place. That’s the number of Turnberry timeshare owners who canceled their contracts with the club, which operated independently from the condo development. Co-owner Jeffrey Soffer was trying to shop the place but those cancellations – representing a $3.8 million annual loss of income -- scared off prospective buyers.
When Turnberry Associates offered to sell the Stirling Club to the Turnberry Place condo-owners’ association at a 75% markdown, the latter didn’t even bother to respond. Nor did it give its blessing to a last-minute, $14-million offer by fast-rising Siegel Group for the $45 million property, which then went dark on May 19. "It closed because the Soffers, who built it, decided they didn’t want to carry it anymore," says a source familiar with The Mansion, who adds that it was losing money.
Like Turnberry Associates’ other Vegas showplace – the unfinished Fontainebleau – the Stirling Club was left high and dry by the recession. When you’re underwater on your real estate, $4,800/year club memberships are a tough sell. The club’s curb appeal also took a hit in 2010 when chef Charlie Palmer severed his ties with Turnberry.
Currently, the ex-Stirling Club is being shopped around by Sotheby’s International for a cool $18 million. So, if you need some tennis courts, servants’ quarters, and 20 bathrooms, look no farther. Siegel Group is reported to still be interested – but is it willing to pay an additional $4 million for the privilege?
"Anybody finds out it could have been had for $13 million or $14 million, it isn’t going to play well," predicts Resorts Properties of America President David Atwell, who brokered the almost-sale to Siegel. Of Sotheby’s he says, "They’re convinced some big-pocket sheikh is going to find it and not care" about the price. "The psychology is not correct," says Atwell, who calls it unprecedented in his 30-year career to fail to close a sale and then raise the price.
Still, Atwell characterizes resale prospects as "reasonably good. It might go back to the way it was," as a health club-cum-nightclub, one where Atwell himself sometimes took the mike. "You can’t find anything better in town."
