The Redding Rancheria has added a golf course to its growing real estate portfolio.

River Bend Golf Club off South Bonnyview Road in Redding has been sold to the tribe, Rancheria CEO Tracy Edwards said in an e-mail to the Record Searchlight late Monday.

The nine-hole golf course was in foreclosure and went back to the lender, Steve Miraglia, on Friday.

Miraglia owned the second mortgage on the property and decided to foreclose on the semi-private club in August after purchasing the first note for $210,000 from Tri Counties Bank, according to former River Bend owner Dan Kowall.
River Bend had been for sale since the summer, and most recently was listed for $1.29 million.

Edwards in her e-mail gave few details about the Rancheria’s plans for the golf course. She also didn't disclose the purchase price.

“Our plan right now is to address the immediate needs of the golf course,” Edwards said. “We are planning to operate the golf course and club house. In due course we will have a grand opening.”

Edwards didn’t immediately respond to follow-up questions that were e-mailed to her office.

The Rancheria’s purchase of River Bend is at least the third major real estate deal the tribe has completed in 2010.

In February, the Rancheria purchased 82 acres off Interstate 5 south of town, known as the Stratte Property, for $1.575 million from the city of Redding.
The Rancheria also owns 150 acres to the north of the Stratte Property, which it bought in 2004 for $1.7 million. The land is adjacent to the tribe’s 96-room Hilton Garden Inn, west of I-5 south of the South Bonnyview Road exit.

It has been rumored for years that the Rancheria is eyeing the freeway frontage land to build a casino. But Edwards earlier this year said the tribe had no specific plans.

In January, the Rancheria paid $4 million for the Lowry Ranch property near its Win-River Casino off Highway 273. The Rancheria purchased the 64-acre parcel from the McConnell Foundation.

The Rancheria will pay taxes on the golf course property, just as it pays taxes on its Hilton Garden Inn property, which is owned by its subsidiary, Win-River Hotel Corp. The tribe pays roughly $115,000 in property taxes on the hotel property.
River Bend, which is tucked between homes off Indianwood Drive in south Redding, opened in 1991.

Struggling to drum up business in the midst of a tough economy, former owner Kowall started allowing public play earlier this year. Kowall said the move helped increase business.

The club had about 150 members when Kowall put the golf course up for sale this summer. Memberships at River Bend peaked at 400 earlier in the decade.
Kowall had blamed the economy and two failed attempts to sell the club in 2004 and 2005 for the drop-off in members.

Two years ago, city officials floated the idea of buying the golf course and turning it into a public park. At the time, the city said it could pay between $1 million and $2 million, but the economic downturn and its grave impact on the city’s finances nixed the idea.

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