The Californian businessman behind a £70 million Angus golf resort has admitted the deal still isn’t over the line.
Suneet Singal of New York real estate firm First Capital Real Estate made a plea for more time to finalise a package for the five-star scheme near Wellbank and the Forbes of Kingennie estate.
Angus businessman Mike Forbes was given the green light in 2010 to build the golf development, to be known as The Angus, but has so far failed to break turf.
He was given a five-year time extension in 2016 which gave him two more years to secure an investment partner and a further three years to settle planning.
A “full blown final unconditional agreement” is now in place with First Capital but the deal will not be completed by the end of April when the existing extension expires.
Mr Forbes has now sought a planning extension beyond the scheduled completion date, which is expected to come before Angus councillors for determination by the summer.
Speaking from New York, Mr Singal said the additional time could make all the difference to the success of the project and the wider fortunes of the county.
“For the people of Angus we say that we are now a team and our vision is to build and execute as a team,” he said.
“The driver a project like this becomes for the community is tremendous – let’s take the time to work together and execute this correctly so it can be something we are all proud of for years to come.”
Mr Singal said the international golf industry was booming at the moment, with a large push towards millenials.
“Scotland is where this all started and Mike Forbes has done a brilliant job capturing multiple eco-systems into one project,” he added.
“The Angus brings the farm-to-table, fractional resort and residential living and golf resort community into one.”
Mr Singal said First Capital would bring an international team to work with the local community and local vendors.
“We are not yet over the line but we are now at the line,” he said.
“It is important a project like this is not rushed and it is absolutely in line with Mr Forbes’ vision.
“Once the project is under way it will move along much faster optically, though much has occurred behind the scenes thus far.”
Mr Singal said he hoped the course could one day host European Tour events and praised the Forbes family for being “gracious and patient” while they put all the pieces together.
