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Show Talks underway to avoid foreclosure of Park Meadows by Dave Adler Dick Smith, president of Enoch Smith Inc. and a partner in Park Meadows Development, said Wednesday Wed-nesday concerns that First Security Bank of Utah may foreclose on the Park Meadows Golf Course are unwarranted. "I'm confident we can avoid foreclosure and resolve this in a positive manner," he said. The golf course, designed by professional golfer Jack Nicklaus, and the Park Meadows Plaza, are pledged as security on a $10 million bank loan in which the principals are Park Meadows Development and Park Meadows Plaza Associates. The golf course, which opened for play in 1982, spans 180 acres. Mark Howell, vice-president and manager of First Security's special loans department, said nearly $9 million still is outstanding on the notes and that the bank considers the loans "seriously delinquent." First Security filed formal foreclosure fore-closure complaints two weeks ago in Third District Court in Coalville. Since then, Howell and Smith have been meeting daily, and both believe a satisfactory solution has been negotiated at least with respect to Park Meadows Plaza. "We sold the Plaza a year ago to City Investors Ltd. of San Diego," said Smith. "That part of the problem has gone away." It is believed that a portion of the liability of Park Meadows Development Develop-ment for the plaza will be shifted to the San Diego corporation, thereby trimming considerably the amount of the outstanding loans. The remaining loans are expected to be liquidated through real estate Foreclosure to A5 Foreclosure from A1 sales by Park Meadows Development, Develop-ment, said Smith. "I am very optimistic that we can achieve a . positive, long-range 6ell-out of Park Meadows." Smith conceded sales have been slow, but he said that has been generally true in Park City and across the nation. "We're still feeling the effects of a long recession, and there's too much unsold inventory in Park City. "But we've been doing everything that we can. We've reduced our prices and rearranged our packages," pack-ages," he said. "We've been working hard and I'm confident things will get better." Although he declined to comment on the specific "avenues we are pursuing," Smith said, 'we are pursuing all possibilities." He did not rule out the possibility of selling out entirely. Smith noted that proposed changes in federal tax laws, including the elimination of deduc tions for interest paid on non-rental second homes, were "hanging like a black cloud over the second-home real estate market. "Resort communities like Park City, whose markets are principally second-home buyers, are hit the haitlest," he said of the proposed changes. "But I'm optimistic about it. We'll deal with the situation, whatever it looks like." It will be business as usual, however at the Park Meadows Golf Course this weekend, as the course officially opens for play on Saturday. |