Lake Jovita Golf Club Getting New Owner

By TODD LESKANIC The Tampa Tribune

Published: Jul 26, 2007

ST. LEO - A Dunedin investor who's an avid golfer has signed a contract to purchase the Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club.

Michael Sheeks, 46, said Wednesday that he and the club's current owner, the Lake Jovita Joint Venture, agreed to terms July 17. The sale is expected to close by the end of the year and includes the community's two 18-hole golf courses, 32,000-square-foot clubhouse and 163 undeveloped residential lots.

Neither side would discuss the sales price.

Sheeks, who owns the Eagles Golf Club in Odessa, said he had been in the market for a second golf club in May when he played a round at Lake Jovita. Although the club wasn't for sale, Sheeks was impressed enough to make an unsolicited offer.

"You know, I really don't know why now," he said of the pending purchase. "The market is down right now and the residential market is down, and we happened to get a price we felt was a good price."

Lake Jovita Joint Venture, a group of investors from Florida and Michigan, has owned the 1,054-acre development north of State Road 52 since it opened eight years ago. The group's attorney, Hutch Brock, attributed the decision to sell to basic business.

"Developers, by their nature, get into it to make money, to open things, build things or run things," he said. "They run them for a long time or sometimes run them for a short time, but they're ultimately in the business of returning their investment."

As part of the deal, members of the club have been offered the opportunity to buy the golf facilities, Brock said. The offer, which went out to members last week, was for $11 million, but Brock said early returns indicate a sale to the membership is unlikely.

By the time construction is complete, the community will have 871 homes, ranging from villas to large single-family houses that appraise for more than $1 million. Construction began recently on the development's final stage, which will include 76 town houses.

The two golf courses that wind through the homes are rated among the finest in the state and have hosted a round of the PGA Tour's qualifying school for the past three years.

Sheeks, a framing and drywall contractor by trade, is no stranger to high-dollar investments. Aside from buying the Eagles three years ago, he was part of an investment group that bought the Marker One Marina in Dunedin last year for $36 million. An $80 million renovation is under way there.

It was the golf that attracted Sheeks to Lake Jovita.

"It was absolutely one of the most beautiful courses I've ever played, and I've played in Hawaii and everywhere," he said of his May round. "I just fell in love with it."

Reporter Todd Leskanic can be reached at (352) 521-3156 or tleskanic@tampatrib.com.