City May Buy Back Papago At Bargain Price

Thanks to reader Joel for Lynh Bui report suggesting that the City of Phoenix may essentially buy back Papago Golf Course after it had outsourced the restoration and management of Papago to "the Arizona Golf Foundation’s management arm because the city couldn’t afford to do it." And $10 million in debt later, it went into default.

Those close to the matter say Phoenix is looking to spend $1.5 million to $2 million to buy the debt from Compass Bank and take complete control of the golf course.

Phoenix already regained control over management of the golf course, which it is temporarily outsourcing to a private company. But if Phoenix bought the debt from Compass Bank, the city’s investment would retire the debt completely.

If Phoenix didn’t buy the debt, Compass Bank could sell the debt to another investment company or bank and the golf course would still be in debt of $10 million, just to another entity.