Green Garden bids sought

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Green Garden Country Club in Frankfort will be auctioned March 9, 2012, as part of owner William J. McEnery's bankruptcy case. | File photo.

Updated: March 23, 2012 8:15AM

A Chicago firm is soliciting offers for the sale of Green Garden Country Club in Frankfort, part of the ongoing bankruptcy case of former Southland gas station magnate William J. McEnery.

A Chicago firm, Development Specialists Inc., was hired to find a buyer, and the minimum offer being accepted for the 419-acre property, southeast of Center and Manhattan-Monee roads, is $5.5 million, according to court documents.

The property includes two 18-hole golf courses and a nine-hole course as well as an enclosed golf dome, driving range, banquet facilities and clubhouse. The dome was severely damaged during the February 2011 blizzard but has been repaired.

Bids for the property are due March 9. If multiple bids are received, an auction will be held March 12.

The sale of Green Garden is the latest chapter in the demise of McEnery’s businesses. The Homer Glen resident, starting with one station, built Gas City into a company that was seemingly ubiquitous in the Southland, with dozens of stations in the south and southwest suburbs as well as some outside Illinois.

The trust that owned the stations filed for bankruptcy in October 2010, listing liabilities of more than $100 million. The stations were sold off last year, with Speedway buying many of the Southland locations.

McEnery, who also was among the original investors in the former Empress Casino in Joliet, was forced into personal bankruptcy last June by his creditors, and he recently asked the court for additional time to formulate a reorganization plan for emerging from bankruptcy.

In a court filing, he noted that he and his wife are divorcing and that some of the businesses he owns “are financially distressed and in bankruptcy.” McEnery said claims exceeding $255 million have been filed against him by creditors.