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Steve Nicklas
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The rumored intent of Amelia Island Plantation to acquire control of Royal Amelia Golf Links and coordinate it with the development of Crane Island is now out of the bag of secrecy. A letter has been quietly circulated by the Plantation’s management group, the Amelia Island Company, to its residents and members championing the move.
The letter describes the benefits of the Royal Amelia golf course acquisition and how the Crane Island affiliation will help pay for it. The Plantation’s relationship with Crane Island and its developers is fuzzy and not delineated in the letter, however.
Plantation management has been quiet about the controversial Crane Island development and its alleged relationship with it. A few weeks ago, a top Plantation official refused to comment on any involvement with Crane Island by noting its litigious and controversial nature.
There probably have not been two more-contentious topics of late on Amelia Island than Royal Amelia and Crane Island. (Disclaimer: This is not to minimize or ignore other outlandish controversies such as the Fernandina Beach city marina, or the CRA, or the county’s disastrous budget woes, or the area's inability to control growth and prevent undesirable businesses from locating here.)
To complicate the soap-opera scenario, there are significant concerns of residents over the diminishing presence of the local municipal airport. They are concerned that the development of Crane Island with expensive homes and power-broker residents will encroach the perimeters and flight patterns of the airport.
Ironically, Plantation president Jack Healan is sort of caught in the middle. In addition to running the Plantation, Healan also serves a pivotal role with the city airport. The airport, meanwhile, helps feed Amelia Island with tourism and corporate business travel -- particularly during big-draw events such as the Concours d’ Elegance.
The silence about the potentially lucrative Royal Amelia-Crane Island package is no more. The Plantation has set dates for private meetings and hearings over the proposed arrangement. It has done this gingerly with little fanfare or attention -- just the letter to residents and club members.
The spin is already being applied to the idea like a pitcher rubbing down a baseball. The letter from the Plantation brass states that acquiring the lease on Royal Amelia will provide another top-level golf course for residents and members to play, while developing Crane Island will soften the costs.
The Plantation specifies that it would build a clubhouse on the picturesque marsh at Royal Amelia, a move that prior owners failed to pull together. They go on to talk about opportunities such as this to provide additional first-class facilities.
The letter also states that residents of Crane Island could join as club members at the Plantation, which would provide another revenue stream. In addition, the carrot on the stick being dangled in front of residents is the Royal Amelia tract.
Royal Amelia presents the last on-island opportunity for the Plantation to acquire a fourth golf course. Royal Amelia is currently mired in a bankruptcy. Its prior owners defaulted on their lease with the city of Fernandina Beach, which owns the property near the airport on which Royal Amelia is built.
By taking over the Royal Amelia lease, the Plantation would acquire another valuable entity. And each time the Plantation has added a resort or amenity, property values there have increased.
Silence can be golden. But so can two jewels of premier property.
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Steve Nicklas is a financial advisor who lives on Amelia Island. He can be reached at 904-753-0236 or by eMail at thenicklasteam2@msn.com.