Windy Point on the market again

[Debraw]

I totally believe that place has lost money in recent years. We had the drought almost every summer for the last 5 years and then this summer it flooded. If you think about it he only has a good two or three months to make the majority of his money. Taxes take a huge chunk of that property. I can't even imagine what his legal bills are, I bet he has been a party in a lawsuit just about every year for one dive accident or non diving accident or another. People name other people in law suits even if they have nothing to do with it. It's the "sue 'em all" mentality. Insurance must be insane. Park improvements are not cheap, mowers, picnic tables, carts, port a potties, showers, trees, stairs, platforms, gates, compressor, filters, oil, electricity, gravel for the roads, trash collecting, you name it needs maintenance or replacing. $15 a head just is not enough when business is slow and you are cleaning up a place like that. Don't forget a lot of people you see out there don't always pay either. Instructors, DM's, family members have been getting in free for years. Just because you see a lot of people out there doesn't mean they all paid.

 

[darthvader]

It seems to me that from a business standpoint, Windy Point Park is a lot like a (golf) driving range. Driving ranges usually have a mobile building for an office, and they rent or lease a rather nice piece of land that is perpetually for sale. The rent is pretty cheap because the terms of the lease basically stipulate that the driving range has to go whenever the land sells.

The landowner benefits because he gets some income from the land that he otherwise wouldn't get, and he can keep up his efforts to sell, which is his ultimate goal. The driving range owner benefits because he gets to rent a very nice location for a lot less than it's worth.

The driving range never buys the land. When the land does sell to somebody else, the driving range picks up its operation like a MASH unit and moves to another nice piece of land which it rents/leases on a similar basis as before.

So I think that the best way to "save" Windy Point Park is not to try to raise $15MM to buy the land and then try to get operations to justify it. Instead, the operators should look for another piece of undeveloped land on Lake Travis with a similar financial arrangement, and move their operation!

Also, they should make a documentary film entitled "Moving the Pinto", produced by Monty Python. The proceeds could be used to, well, move the Pinto. Or to buy another one if this one doesn't survive the film...

 

[PvilleStang]

I don't think that's the issue here, since they own the land they're using for a park. A big reason the price tag is so high is to keep the county from buying the park (they already virtually stole Bob Wentz from the Barstows). I just think after running a park like that for so long, you get burnt out, and need to move on. I think Bob and Richard realize they are sitting on a goldmine, and want to make the best of it while making back lost funds over the years.

 

[darthvader]

It doesn't really matter whether the land and the operations are owned by the same people. The central issue is whether the income from operations is enough to justify its assets. I don't know whether the Barstows actually operate it (do they?), but businesses can be sold just like land. Yet, it's not being pitched that way. This implies the Barstows consider the land to be a lot more attractive than the business. Since the business apparently doesn't generate enough income to justify the land, it is similar to the driving range scenario.

BTW, I don't know anything about the history of Bob Wentz Park or the Barstows. I'd be interested in hearing about it. I love to dive Windy Point, and I would hate to lose that opportunity. But I certainly wouldn't hold it against the Barstows if that happens. They own the land, probably bought it as an investment, and now they are ready to sell, presumably because they would rather have the cash than the land. There's nothing unethical about that.