Head of Sun Rivers says golf course sale still on track

Oct 19, 2017 | 4:29 PM

KAMLOOPS — Rick Siemens, CEO of Sun Rivers Ltd. Partnership, says he wants to set the record straight when it comes to a court case involving one of its companies and the future of its golf course and restaurant.

This after Siemens made a court appearance in Kamloops this week.

“Well, the court case was to do with one of our companies, Sun Rivers Construction, only. And obviously in court I was under oath disclosing the financial situation with the company which right now is not good,” he told CFJC Today. “The company has got more debts than assets right now and we are trying to work through that issue and come up with an arrangement with our creditors and settle all the debts that we have.”

Siemens confirms Sun Rivers Construction owes over $1 million to trades workers, $650,000 of which is subject to ongoing court actions. He made the clarification after a story surfaced in Kamloops This Week this week, claiming Sun Rivers’ bank account was frozen at the time.

“But that’s only the Sun Rivers Construction account and in the newspaper it made it sound like it’s all Sun Rivers accounts, which it’s not. Sun Rivers Limited Partnership is the developer and is the parent company of our other companies which includes (Sun Rivers Construction).”

Siemens also wanted to assure the public that Hoodoos Restaurant has not shut down, which has been widely rumoured.

“Not true. It never shut down. The golf course and the restaurant are both operating and they’re part of negotiations for Bill (local investor Bill Amy) and his group to buy.”

He believes people are confused about its status because they may have heard of talk of the potential sale’s closing date.

“Which is normal lingo in a real estate transaction and people hear the word ‘close’ and they jump to the conclusion we’re closed. But we’re talking about the closing date of a sale, not closing the restaurant.”

Siemens says nothing could be further from the truth.

“Things are going fine. We’ve brought a new chef in, a new menu, and that’s going really well and golf is obviously winding down with the season ending Oct. 29. So the course will be shutting down but it’s just a seasonal shut down.”

However he can’t confirm when a possible deal with Amy and his group will be in place.

“We don’t have a firm date yet and that’s what we’re working on with Bill. He’s been working to get some investment funds together as everyone knows. His efforts there are going to determine what the date is.”

If and when the sale does go through, Siemens says it will allow him to focus on the real estate aspect of the company.

“Well, definitely it’d be nice to get on with our focus on developing the real estate. I mean that’s what we’re trying to achieve here and it’s why we put the golf course up for sale, to concentrate our efforts on real estate.”

He says there’s plenty of work to do on that front as well, with about 800 or more residential units yet to be developed.

“And that’s everything from condos to full-sized homes including adult-oriented communities, townhouses. We’ve still got a number of years ahead to finish the project.”

Does Siemens think current employees of both the golf course and restaurant will be affected by a possible sale?

“Well, that’s up to Bill’s group on how they’re going to run in the future. Our understanding is obviously he’s got some plans for renos but the restaurant and golf course is going to continue to operate and they need staff so it’s highly likely all the staff are going to move over and work for his group.”