There has been a sudden announcement by the Club Executive to vote in favour of selling the Raglan Club to a major Supermarket brand.
There has been very little information or alternative options been made available leaving Club members and the greater community in the dark. Why not offer the members to vote on the following proposals?
Concept 1:
The Club outlines to its members a commercial building development involving a mix of retail and office spaces along its Bow Street frontage, concept drawings are available. The Club asks for members who are interested to invest money by secured debentures at a return of 3.5% above current mortgage rates or 8% whichever the higher. There has already been a strong interest for further shops and office space and potential tenants have registered their interest in writing. A building committee would need to be formed and a proper due diligence undertaken to assess the building costs, time frame and response of the Raglan community. A conservative estimate of this proposal in terms of benefit for the Club is:
A rental revenue of around $ 200,000 per annum with interest payment costs towards investing members of around $75,000 leaving the Club with a financial surplus of about $ 12,5000 per annum.
The down side of this proposal is:
The Club undertakes the development and carries a certain risk, as any developer does, the gratification, say revenue of money is delayed until a completion of the project, some money needs to be spent first to set up a legal framework and additional management is needed to look after rental property.
The upside is: The Club retains its property, does not have to leave its current site, can borrow funds from banks easier as it can show a steady rental income and gains a long-term investment that will support financial shortfalls in its day to day trading
Concept 2:
The Club accepts an offer by a group of local developers to sell the Bow Street road frontage for up to $1,000,000 (one million) or $1,000 per square meter. The developers grant access to the Club premises from Bow Street. The Club gives right of way via it’s Wallis Street entrance, allows for the development to start while the subdivision process is under way, the developers pay for all subdivision costs. The Club gives permission to demolish the covered entrance on the Bow Street side and relocate its entrance towards the eastern side of the building. The Club agrees to let one of the outside smoker’s spaces to be demolished to allow courtyard and development space.
The developers enter into a lease for the use of car parking with the Club during daytime hours to a value of up to $50,000 per annum.
The developers pay $250,000 on acceptance of this proposal.
Downside: The Club parts with a valuable part of its assets and loses some road frontage appeal
Upside: The Club gets a healthy cash injection and money up front and without delay to overcome current financial difficulties, additional funds can be used to upgrade the Club’s premises, undertake urgent repairs to the roof and kitchen etc.
The developers warrant to consult their proposed development with the Raglan Community Board and work along side the Raglan Naturally recommendations.
Any potential risk factors lie with the developers and not the Club.
Concept 3:
The Club takes a financially substantial offer from a community-based organisation, in money figures around as much as concept 4. The Club vacates its site within an agreeable time frame and relocates to a new location.
Downside: The Club has to vacate its site and find new premises, a task not without challenges and rather unlikely to match what it is walking away from.
Upside: A substantial amount of money to be invested into new Club rooms.
The former Club premises will be used for a community based organisation that does a lot of good for its community.
Concept 4:
The Club goes ahead with the sale of the entire Club premise as decided by the former Executive Committee before the last AGM.
The Club will be sold for around $3.9-million plus a house on Cliff Street with a potential value of around $1.1 million. So the combined money value for the Club is around $5 million. The buyer will allow the Club a certain time frame to continue operating from its current site, the buyer allows the Club to demolish the Club rooms at the end of that term and take with them and utilize what ever the Club sees fit. The intended future use of the Club site is the establishment of a major supermarket most likely under the “Fresh Choice” brand.
Downside: The Club will lose its site at Bow Street, there is a great amount of uncertainty as to where the Club can successfully move to and replicate what it is leaving behind, the developer for the then vacant Bow Street site has not given any details yet as to how this development would take shape and has not indicated that they would want to stay within guidelines established by the Raglan Community Board and Raglan Naturally. This new Supermarket development has potentially negative effects on a large part of the Raglan Business Community,
So here we go, MEMBERS, we all own this Club and we all have the right to be fully informed of all the possibilities that have been presented to the Executive Committee over the past few months. Over 100 of our members have signed a petition that was delivered to the Club on the August 13, 2017 asking for a Special General Meeting to allow an open and honest process when it comes to the future of our Club and to show any proposals and/or agreements that the Executive Committee has received and/or signed to date in an open and transparent manner.
Potential relocation venues for the new Raglan Club site are uncertain and both of the current suggestions, Orca Restaurant and the Raglan Bowling grounds, face difficult and lengthy permit processes and might not be suitable at all. Unless permission to relocate to a new site has been granted in all aspects by local authorities, a vote on the sale of the entire Raglan Club site should not even be presented to us members!
At this point, members are not allowed to view the Sale and Purchase agreement that was signed by the Executive in favour of Concept 4, and yet members are expected and asked by the President of the Club to vote in favour of it at the meeting scheduled for August 27.
I have written this summary of concepts to the best of my knowledge and based on information that I have gathered over the past few months. There might be some errors in it, however, they would be unintentional. As the Executive Committee is very secretive on the whole subject and keeps its members pretty much in the dark about its intentions and motives, this is about the best I can do.
Andreas Broring, Club member for over 30 years, Raglan, August 16, 2017 – advertorial.
