7th time a charm? What the newest owners of Fripp Island Resort paid and have planned

Fripp Island’s vast marshes and grassy beaches are well acquainted with change. They were rumored to be dug up to hide Blackbeard’s treasure, posed as rice fields for Vietnam scenes in “Forrest Gump,” cleared for rolling fairways and developed for around 2,000 homes including Lowcountry author Pat Conroy’s former residence.

Now, for the seventh time since the bridge connecting Fripp Island to St. Helena Island opened in 1963, the Fripp Island Golf and Beach Resort has changed hands.

The asking price? $23.5 million, according to documents filed with the county said Beaufort County Director of Communications Christopher Ophardt.

Seascape Hospitality Group, founded by former Sequoia golf executive Joe Guerra and Express Oil Change and Service Center owner Adam Fuller, purchased the resort from the Wardle family Jan. 12.

“My brother has been a long-time part-time resident because he lives in Savannah,” Guerra said. “He has a home here, and he’s been telling me about Fripp Island for several years. We knew a lot about it before we ever got here.”

Guerra founded Georgia-based Sequoia Golf Holdings in 2003 and built it to a portfolio of 50 country clubs. He sold the company for $265 million, more than ten times what he and Fuller have purchased the resort for, in 2014.

The resort is a private business on Fripp Island that operates amenities including two golf courses, tennis and pickleball courts, a marina, two main pools, nine restaurants and a nature center. It had been run by the Wardle family since 2002, when they gained control of the company after investing large amounts of money to support previous owners Steve Bauer and Gary Keller, according to according to “Fripp Island A History” by Page Miller.

Bauer purchased the resort for about $36 million, $12.5 million more than what the resort was purchased for today, according to the book.

Miller, the author, speculated that the price cut could be because some of the resort’s land and commercial buildings have since been sold off and because of how the golf course’s debt was structured in the sale.

“I feel sure golf course debt was part of the deal,” she said in an email.

Miller has lived on the Island since 2000 and said she is interested to see how the new owners interact with the community center.

“The resort has to really cooperate with these other entities, because they do not control the road nor the bridge nor the meeting places,” Miller said. “Not everybody is a member, and people can enjoy the island, whether they’re involved with the resort or not, but of course the the ups and downs of the resort affect us.”

Currently about 1,400 homeowners, about two-thirds of residents on the island, are part of the resort, according to Guerra. Homeowners can opt into the nearly $300 a month to be part of the club and access its amenities, according to Miller.

What’s to come

Guerra said he and Fuller are looking forward to their future with the resort.

“The big picture is that, if it ‘ain’t broke, don’t fix it,’ but at the same time, some aspects of the resort have gotten tired, need an infusion of capital,” he said. “What I call ‘resort repositioning.’”

Immediately, he mentioned the need for upgrading restaurants and tending to the infrastructure of the buildings. The resort’s two golf courses and corresponding buildings opened in 1964 and 1995.

The buildings’ ages vary, with some being built in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, according to Marketing and Communications Director Hannah Nichols.

Nichols said, of the 140 staff members, only two chose to leave under the new owners. The head of golf and head of restaurants recently left the resort.

“To my knowledge, everyone was given the opportunity to stay on through the new owners because it was very important to them, and they communicated to us from the get go that they weren’t here to just clear out staff,” she said.

Guerra said he and Fuller will work to balance new developments with the island’s environment, which is a wildlife habitat. There are about 300 alligators, including the 11-foot reptile known as King Arthur, and hundreds of deer and birds, according to Nichols.

“I’m a longtime hiker-backpacker. I have a profound appreciation for nature,” Guerra said. “We have no intention of destroying or pushing the envelope of development. Whatever is here is already baked in, right? The lots are done and settled and the units are here, so we don’t really anticipate any change to that.”

The resort doesn’t own any residential properties, although it manages a vacation rental program that about 20% of renters use, according to Nichols. Guerra said they don’t plan to build a hotel.

“I think it’s pretty safe to say — don’t hold me to this 100% — but we’re not hotel developers,” he said. “We never have been. We’re resort golf operators and club operators.”

What the community is saying

The deal has been in the works for six months, according to Guerra, giving community members plenty of time to reflect upon the change. According to Fripp Island residents, there hasn’t been much communication from the new owners yet, but homeowners are optimistic.

“I’ve been a part of Fripp Island for a long, long time,” resident Don Peel said. “This is just one of those things that you just have to sit back and wait and see and hope that they make some good changes and some good improvements but maintain the character. Fripp Island is probably one of the most unique islands on the East Coast.”

Peel’s family first purchased a home on the island in the ‘60s, and he said he’s “known every developer we’ve ever had.” Now, Peel and his wife own the island’s real estate company. They also own the section of undeveloped land at the front of the island.

When asked if he would sell this land to the new developers, Peel said it would have to be under the right circumstances.

“I do think that the front of the island is the first thing you see when you come to Fripp,” he said. “I suspect that would be something that, at some point in time, [the new owners] may be interested in. How that comes about and whether we ever sell to them or anyone else? It just all depends on the circumstances at the time.”

Wendy and Bill Moore have lived on Fripp Island full time for almost six years and were part-time owners for years before that. They said they’re looking forward to updated restaurant services and to see what other amenities the new owners might add.

Guerra said he looks forward to creating activities for resort members who might not play golf or racquetball.

“It’s a very large constituency and a growing one, and we need make the club relevant for them,” Guerra said. “I’m a big believer in clubs within the club. You know, whether it’s bird watching, book club, cigar club, wine tasting club, whiskey tasting club, travel club, none of those clubs exist today. Suffice it to say, it’s an open canvas.”

Guerra said he and Fuller are taking ownership responsibilities very seriously.

“Of course, the proof is in the pudding, as they say,” Bill Moore said. “But the initial information that we’re getting from them is very, very good.”