JANUARY 2010

pulled from the brink
Shenandoah reduces debt, looks forward
By Joyce Wiswell
A
new financial arrangement
has pulled Shenandoah from
the brink of foreclosure and,
proponents say, ushered in a new
chapter for the troubled country club
in West Bloomfield.
After a year of negotiations,
Shenandoah purchased its $20-million
bank note for $6.7 million in a
deal signed on December 28. That
money was raised through $10,000
equity injections by more than 100
members, additional member loans,
and a $3 million commitment from
the Private Bank. The club also
still owes $530,000 to the Bank of
Michigan and $500,000 to the St.
Thomas Chaldean Catholic Diocese.
Former board president Mike
Sarafa called it all “friendly debt”
with no short-term interest.
“This was no doubt the toughest
year in the club’s history,” Sarafa
said of 2009. “We were literally being
swallowed by massive, unsustainable
debt. Now that that has been lifted
it’s like 150 pounds of barbells off
your shoulders.”
The money lent by members has
gone into forming an LLC that will
have “a tremendous stake in the
decision-making process that governs
the club in the next couple of
years, which we hope will bring a
more business-minded approach,”
Sarafa said.
Club Vice President John Loussia
said he is excited about the deal after
Shenandoah Country Club is entering
2010 in better financial shape.
enduring many sleepless nights pondering
Shenandoah’s fate. “There is a
big difference between a $22 million
and a $6 million debt service. I am
sure this is going to stabilize us and
put us on the right track,” he said.
Neb Mekani, who is serving his
second term as Shenandoah’s president,
said the deal should attract
more members — an essential aspect
of the club’s long-term plan. After
peaking at nearly 1,000 people, membership
has dropped to about 500.
“In the coming years you’ll
see north of 750 or 800 members,
creeping toward that 1,000 goal,”
Mekani said.
Equity memberships and annual
dues have dropped since the luxurious
Shenandoah opened to great
fanfare in January 2005. Initial fees
were once as high as $12,000 and
annual dues were $3,000. Today, the
initiation fee is only $1,000 and dues
are $1,500 a year. Though there has
been talk of opening membership to
non-Chaldeans, that is unlikely to
happen in the foreseeable future.
The club will also offer more affordable
rates for banquets. “We were
trying to compete with the Ritz and
the Townsend,” Sarafa said, “and our
target market was more Penna’s and
the Farmington Manor.”
26 CHALDEAN NEWS JANUARY 2010