Deal to sell Revelstoke Golf Course collapses

The proposed $7 million deal was being negotiated between Calgary-based Citrus Capital Partners and the City of Revelstoke.

by Keith Powell — September 30, 2015

Picture of the Revelstoke Golf Club clubhouse.

A $7-million deal to take over the Revelstoke Golf Course has ended in failure. — Photo courtesy Revelstoke Golf Club

It seems like a lot of people in Revelstoke were left gasping for air, heads spinning, and confusion reigning—when the proposed $7 million deal to take over the Revelstoke Golf Course by Calgary-based Citrus Capital Partners unexpectedly fell apart in early September. The proposed $7 million, 30-year lease deal was being brokered between Citrus Capital Partners owner, Larry Shelley and James Costello and Revelstoke's recently hired Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), Allan Chabot.

So who was Larry Shelley, the man behind the deal to take over the Revelstoke Golf Course?

Larry Shelley, founder of Citrus Capital Partners in Calgary.

Larry Shelley is the founder of Citrus Capital Partners in Calgary, which according to its website, has the following mandate: “Citrus Capital Partners is an organization of successful & experienced business people from Western Canada who have come together to invest in the Western Canadian economy, and contribute their knowledge and abilities to work with mid-sized companies in an effort to achieve a higher level of success. Each member of the firm brings a unique skill set and personal investment dollars. We invest our time and our capital with you, in pursuit of optimal business success. We are not a fund-based group looking to fulfill our annual quotas - instead, each and every investment is unique and is undertaken on a one-on-one basis, matching our partner investments with their individual skill sets to maximize the value."

In addition to Mr. Shelley, other company executives at Citrus Capital Partners include lawyer Kenneth McKinnon, Dr. Bob Schulz and accountant James Costello. According to the website profile, it is Mr. Costello who brings with him the necessary golf course management experience: “James has significant experience in international media and film, clean technology, golf course strategy and operations, property development and hospitality operations.” James Costello is also Larry Shelley's son-in-law. He is married to Lisa Costello who runs a company in Calgary called Neal's Yard Remedies.

Though Mr. Shelley has had a busy and largely successful career in real estate development, resource and investment fields, his dealings have not been without some difficulties. He was a director of a company called Birch Mountain Resources that was forced into bankruptcy several years ago and the investors, as recently as June 2015, lost a class action legal suit to recoup their money from Brookfield Management. It would also appear that in 1998 Mr. Shelley had an issue with the Alberta Securities Exchange surrounding a share offering deal between The Tamarack Group, where he was company president, and a junior resource company called Arctic Watch Ltd.

According to press reports that appeared in the Revelstoke Review newspaper the exact details of the deal to purchase the Revelstoke Golf Course by Citrus were not known. However the paper stated, “The two parties were negotiating towards a 30-year lease that would have seen Citrus Capital invest about $7 million in the golf course. Shelley said the company had plans for other business investments in Revelstoke if the deal went through.”

Oddly enough, Larry Shelley is quoted as calling the proposed $7 million deal a “largely a philanthropic project.” Critical of the new Revelstoke CAO, Allan Chabot, Mr.Shelley further stated in the newspaper, “if we have to bring other business opportunities to the table and work them through the CAO’s office with that attitude, it’s not worth it."

Whether Revelstoke and Larry Shelley of Citrus Capital Partners can ever patch over their differences only time will tell. In the meantime, one of most historic and beautiful golf courses in the Rockies remains in the hands of the Revelstoke Golf Club and the City of Revelstoke.