A club-affiliated corporate entity recently acquired more than $6 million worth of real estate, including a Wendy’s fast-food restaurant.
AUGUSTA, Ga. — The Augusta National Golf Club’s footprint continues to grow.
A club-affiliated corporate entity in recent weeks has acquired more than $6 million worth of real estate, including the Wendy’s fast-food restaurant on Washington Road and several homes in the West Terrace neighborhood.
The eight properties, totaling just over three acres, will be added to the more than $200 million in west Augusta land the club has acquired during a two-decade long campaign to expand its boundaries.
The Augusta National, as a matter of longstanding policy, does not comment on its business operations.
Richmond County property records show the club’s most recent acquisitions – eight since late December – were made through Berckman Residential Properties LLC, one of several limited liability companies the club has used over the years to amass more than 100 acres on its north and west perimeters.
The largest of the purchases – $3.45 million for the nearly 1-acre Wendy’s property – gives the club ownership nearly all Washington Road frontage on the southside between the club’s western fence and the Berckmans Road-Alexander Drive intersection.
The Wendy’s property was purchased from WendPartners, a Cortland, N.Y.-based franchise group. The local franchise operator, Wendgusta, said the restaurant would continue operating as usual through the remainder of its long-term lease.
“We are aware of the purchase and that the lease has changed hands,” Wendgusta President Mike Iezzi said. “Other than that, nothing is going to change with the operation.”
Iezzi declined to disclose the expiration date of his lease, but said it was not “a near-term end.”
Based on the latest available property records, the only Washington Road frontage properties on the southside between Berckmans Road and the city water tower inside the club’s fence are the Olive Garden restaurant and the Walgreens pharmacy on Washington Road.
On the north side of Washington Road, the club acquired a 0.4-acre tract at 1085 Beverly Drive, a vacant lot formerly occupied by Padgett Business Services. The property doesn’t front Washington Road.
The remainder of the recently acquired properties were homes in the West Terrace subdivision, a residential neighborhood off Berckmans Road near the club’s southeast corner, an area where the club developed its Berckmans Place VIP hospitality complex a few years ago.
All homes in the sale except one were purchased from investment firms on Dec. 17. Para Brothers LLC and 311 West Terrace LLC – two Las Vegas-based companies headed by the same principal – sold five homes, early 1970s-era ranch-style residences that were purchased for prices ranging from $375,000 to $400,000, roughly three to six times their assessed value, depending on the property.
The Augusta National has been acquiring property outside its historic boundaries for the past two decades, primarily on its west and north sides.
The field off Berckmans Road used as free parking during the Masters Tournament was primarily a residential neighborhood that club-affiliated companies acquired parcel-by-parcel before helping the city pay for the realignment of Berckmans Road.
The club greatly expanded its property portfolio in late 2017 and early 2018 by acquiring two Washington Road shopping centers for a combined $41 million.
Land the club has purchased over the years on its northeast side is slated to become a state-of-the-art television and digital media compound that Augusta National Chairman Fred Ridley called a “Global Broadcast Village” during his 2019 “State of the Masters” address.
The nearly 40-acre tract is being linked to the main club property at Gate 1 by a 120-foot tunnel being constructed under Washington Road.
The club did not return phone and email messages seeking comment on the tunnel’s completion status. A Georgia Department of Transportation spokesman would only confirm that “work in the state right of way” has been finished.
Recent Augusta National acquisitions
2738 Washington Road, Jan. 15, $3,450,000
2703 W. Terrace Drive, Dec. 23, $350,000
301 W. Terrace Court, Dec. 17, $400,000
302 W. Terrace Court, Dec. 17, $400,000
306 W. Terrace Court, Dec. 17, $375,000
309 W. Terrace Court, Dec. 17, $375,000
311 W. Terrace Court, Dec. 17, $375,000
1085 Beverly Drive, Dec. 17, $300,000
Source: Richmond County Clerk of Court
