What’s next for Sandy Beach Water Park? Owners looking to sell — and have buyer in mind
Should Macon-Bibb County buy Sandy Beach Water Park?
That’s one of the ideas being broached to some Macon-Bibb County leaders as the water park had a sharp increase in the number of visitors for the summer of 2018. Sandy Beach Water Park, which opened in 2015 inside the Lake Tobesofkee Recreation Area, had a financially successful third year, in part spurred by offering rentals for special events as well as a stronger advertising push, said Art Barry, III, a commercial real estate broker with Coldwell Banker Commercial Eberhardt & Barry.
“The park had a strong season in 2018,” Barry said. “We almost doubled our revenue from the previous summer.”
“The trustee who handles the property through the courts has empowered us to try to sell it,” Barry said. “We’ve been courting numerous operators throughout the southeast who’ve expressed interest in owning a water park.”
But with the county already owning the land that the water park sits on, it may work out well for Macon-Bibb County to add the park to its recreational facilities, Barry said.
The park can be bought for about $900,000, with commissioners possibly using some of the special purpose sales tax revenue designated for recreation to purchase it, he said.
“It certainly makes sense to me as a taxpayer and broker of the property to have the county understand the opportunity in front of it to operate the park,” Barry said.
Mayor Robert Reichert has been kept up-to-date about the water park’s status over the last several years, including discussions about the option of the county buying it, said Chris Floore, Macon-Bibb director of external affairs.
“It was mentioned they would be willing to sell it to us, but there may be a better way than that to keep it open,” Floore wrote in an email. “We’re helping the bank explore all options so it can remain open; there has been a great response to it in the first few years and we want to see it remains open and expands.”
In 2017, a new company, Jeff Ellis Management, began handling the day-to-day operations at the water park, which underwent major facility upgrades for that summer. The water park had been placed under the control of a receiver, someone appointed to administer property when an owner cannot meet the financial obligations.
County Commissioner Joe Allen, who represents the district where Sandy Beach park is located, said he’s not in favor of buying the park.
Instead, Allen said he’d like to see if Macon-Bibb can sell the actual land that the water park sits on. That way the county could begin earning property tax revenue from it.
“I believe that we ought to be able to sell just that piece of property where they put that water park back to the bank,” Allen said.
He also says he’d also wants to find out if there are potential buyers for the nearby Flintrock Park and two other pieces of Lake Tobesofkee park that’s currently leased out to the Fish N’ Pig restaurant and Central Georgia Marina.
Earlier this year, commissioners lowered the fees to enter Lake Tobesofkee Recreation Area as a way to help attract more people to Sandy Beach.
About $250,000 of Macon-Bibb’s money was spent on infrastructure improvements near the water park as part of the $2.7 million project.