Developer moves to reclaim Idaho Club lots

SANDPOINT — The original developer of the Hidden Lakes golf course is moving to regain ownership of a substantial portion of the Idaho Club before it is put up on the auction block.

Jim Berry of JV LLC and its legal counsel notified Bonner County officials on Wednesday that they are seeking to pay the unpaid taxes and secure ownership of approximately 120 lots and up to a half-dozen holes of the Jack Nicklaus-signature golf course.

Those parcels and golf holes are all located on the south side of Highway 200, an area locally known as Moose Mountain.

Although the move could bifurcate ownership of the club, Berry said he has no intention of breaking up the development. He’s willing to work with the ultimate owners of the north half of the development to keep the place intact.

“That’s the biggest thing in my life, that golf course,” said Berry. “I want to see it endure.”

Berry’s family owned the land that comprise the Idaho Club as far back as 1918, although it changed hands a few times in following years. Jim Berry became the owner in the late 1960s and developed the golf course in 1986.

Berry said he first sold the land on the north side of the highway to Villelli Enterprises.

Several years later, Berry sold the southerly lands to Villelli.

Villelli sold the entire project to Pend Oreille Bonner Development in the mid-2000s, but Berry said the Pend Oreille Bonner assumed the loan that Villelli was paying for the land on the south side of the highway.

Pend Oreille Bonner ultimately defaulted on that loan, according to Berry.

“I am the  original owner of it and I’m still owed money,” he said.

Pend Oreille Bonner did an extensive remodel of the course, but the development fell on hard times with the crash of the high-end real estate market and the loss of its signature clubhouse, which was razed in a 2008 fire and never rebuilt.

Pend Oreille Bonner and two other entities that owned land at the club fell behind on tax payments to the county, setting the stage for a July 9 auction.

Bonner County Treasurer Cheryl Piehl said the county is verifying Berry’s right of redemption through a title company and Gery Edsen, a Boise attorney who’s serving as the county’s legal counsel in the tax-deeding process.

“If these get redeemed, the prices would get subtracted out of the minimum balance and the remaining parcels would be offered at sale,” said Piehl.

A group of homeowners, meanwhile, is maintaining the course at its own expense, although it is not open for public play due to the absence of rental carts, employees and other necessary facilities.

The semi-private club had been open for public play, but that ceased after homeowners banded together to maintain the course to keep it from going fallow while the auction is pending.

“During that period of time, the course is not open for public play,” said Rick Orchard of New TIC LLC.

If a new owner fails to materialize, Orchard said the group would try to acquire it and expand opportunities for public play.