Sebring council workshop examines ground-lease offer for municipal golf course tied to Harder Hall restoration

Sebring — Representatives for the Blackman family told the Sebring City Council at a May 12 workshop they would assume operations, capital costs and liability for the city-owned municipal golf course under a proposed long-term ground lease tied to renovation of the historic Harder Hall hotel.

The offer, presented by Brian Sykes, an attorney for Meridian Partners Law, and by Robert Blackman, a partner in the Harder Hall resort project, would keep city ownership of the land while shifting day-to-day operations and capital responsibility to the lessee. “The city would have 0 responsibility, 0 liability, 0 obligation,” Sykes said, calling the arrangement a “triple net lease.”

The proposal was framed as part of a larger redevelopment: Blackman representatives and their consultants said linking the golf course to a restored Harder Hall would make the hotel economically viable as a resort amenity. “If you don't have the course, you don't have a resort,” Drew Locker, a licensed general contractor working with the Blackman group, said.

Why it matters: City staff and presenters said the municipal golf course has operated at a loss for years and requires capital work. In his presentation, Sykes gave revenue and expense figures he attributed to current operations — “about 798,000 in revenues with 1,300,000 in expenses,” which he said created “over $500,000 per year operating deficit.” Finance staff presented additional fund-level numbers and said transfers from the general fund have varied year to year; the staff presentation noted transfers and capital spending in recent years and said “the amount that's…