Hard Rock / Freestyle Music Park Discussion Thread

They at least proved to be smarter than Kat & Kiwi....even if not by much.

[vgmaster9I Guess Donkeys Are Okay]

I wouldn't hold my breath guys. There's no telling what's gonna happen for next season. It's like the park DOESN'T WANT to succeed.

[braztazDon't make me kick you in the donkey!]

I think it would be a great idea to only open the park later in the day. When I went, it actually got a little crowded after 4 or 5 pm...and it was empty before then.

[RandallDuellThis B&M donkey is so smooth!]

Have we seen any interior/exterior pictures of this park, recently? I'm just curious what kind of shape it's currently in?

[chadsterThe Pony Express can't find my teepee]

^ About a month ago there were some, but I couldn't tell you where I saw them. Mostly vegitation over growth in some areas, it did however, look like they were doing the basics so as for it not to get too out of control.

[RandallDuellThis B&M donkey is so smooth!]

Cool, would love to see 'em if you can locate them!

[jedimaster1227Open Up Happiness]

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/2012/02/09/2650935/new-life-coming-to-former-waccamaw.html

An investment group has bought the property known as Waccamaw Pottery with plans to revive the former shopping hub by cleaning up the area and luring new stores, restaurants, entertainment venues and other tenants. The property off U.S. 501 at Fantasy Harbour, once slated for demolition before the recession to make way for new development, is getting new life under the new owners, 3W LLC, a firm registered in New Jersey that is made up of Chinese and American investors. The firm bought the 52.29 acres from General Electric Credit Equities for $7.5 million, closing the deal on Dec. 30, according to Horry County property records.

“We will gradually bring this thing back to life,” property manager Martin Durham said, sitting in an office in one of the mall buildings. “We are hoping to, over time, open everything back up.”

The change in ownership is the first step in reviving an area that has taken a few hits in recent years, businesses in the area said, with the twice-failed theme park still sitting idle and the lack of attention to keep up the Waccamaw Pottery property, which has spawned more weeds and broken windows than tenants in recent years.
Crews already have pulled weeds and boarded up broken windows in the past few weeks, and area businesses have noticed – welcoming the change to a property they say looked abandoned and scary.

“Aesthetically, it is already looking better,” said Holley McMillen, sales manager at the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center across the street from Waccamaw Pottery, also once known as the Waccamaw Factory Shoppes. “It’s a relief. Any kind of good activity over there can only help this area. This area has really been hit hard lately.”
The buyers found the property appealing because it is in a highly visible location off U.S. 501 – one of the main roads tourists take into Myrtle Beach – and the building is structurally sound, said Alain Wizman, director of commercial real estate for Keller Williams who represented 3W in the deal. Wizman had been working with the group for about a year, but said a trip to China in September with Myrtle Beach Mayor John Rhodes impressed the buyers and helped seal the deal.

The buyers plan to spend about $1 million rehabbing the property, but the transition won’t happen overnight, Wizman said. Keller Williams also is handling leasing of the roughly 600,000-square-feet of space. “They felt this held a tremendous amount of potential,” Wizman said. “They feel it was a property that could be turned around into a premium product.”

The first new stores could be open by the summer, though it likely will take two years before the buildings known as mall 1 and mall 2 are reopen, Durham said, adding that at least half of the space needs to be filled before it’s viable to open that interior space. The goal is to fill the spaces along the exterior of the property first.

Officials aim to get a mix of tenants, including clothing stores, restaurants, nightclubs and venues with an international flavor, Wizman said. The shopping complex also will get a new name, one that will incorporate “Waccamaw” to capture the history of the area, he said. Details of the project, including the name and what the renovations will look like, are still being developed.

But the first step is cleaning up the property, which hasn’t been kept up in recent years. That includes landscaping to rid the place of overgrown weeds, fixing broken windows, pressure washing, painting and working on the roof, Durham said. On Thursday, landscaping crews were working in the parking areas. “This place has had no attention for four or five years,” Durham said. “It was just sort of idle. Everything was idle here.”

The property hasn’t been kept up since about 2008 when the previous owners – also investors in Hard Rock Park – abandoned plans to tear down the mall buildings to make way for a mixed-used development dubbed “Paradise City” and tied into the theme park next door. The theme park only lasted one summer as Hard Rock Park, and the investors abandoned their plans to redevelop the mall property once the park shut down in 2008. The mall was only renting month-to-month and needed some TLC.
“I’m ecstatic,” said Jay Coley, a co-owner of Imaginations costumes and dancewear, one of three tenants at the shopping complex. “It’s exciting to know this won’t be desolate anymore. We won’t have to describe this as being an abandoned mall anymore.”

http://www.carolinalive.com/news/story.aspx?id=718329#.Tzip8VEunoM

While the long-vacant Waccamaw Pottery mall has a new owner with plans for bringing the property back to life, questions remain about another big property in Fantasy Harbour, the former Freestyle Music Park. Now that the mall's new owner's group, 3W LLC, has taken over, retail stores, restaurants, and entertainment are in the works for the property, but things don't look nearly as rosy for the troubled theme park.

It's an exciting time for Imaginations Costume Shop. After being nearly the lone tenant at the former pottery mall for the past two years, Imaginations will soon get new neighbors. After being nearly the lone tenant at the former pottery mall for the past two years, Imaginations will soon get new neighbors. The store's owner doesn't know what to expect, but in the short time since the mall's new management took over, she's seen good things happen already. "So far they've been out here landscaping, killing weeds in the parking lot, they've boarded up some broken windows," said Imaginations owner Shanna Coley.

Across the street from the pottery mall, the manager of Staybridge Suites hotel expects maybe a whole new lease on life for the Fantasy Harbour area. "Looks like we're heading in that direction with the mall opening back up, especially with the new bridge that opened to the airport. We're on the map again," said Eric Reis. Reis said having a vacant mall property next door to the hotel hasn't been good for business. "But now that they're covering the windows up and cleaning the sidewalks off, even getting some repairs done, makes it great," he said.

It'll take a good facelift to bring the mall back to life, but the realtor who's marketing it said new tenants could start moving in almost immediately. "Because of our aggressive pricing structure and knowing that we're going to be making substantial changes, there's a lot of anticipated success here and we're going to be signing leases within the next few weeks," said Alain Wizman of Keller Williams Realty.

But clouds remain over Freestyle, the twice-bankrupt theme park just behind the former pottery shops. Wizman doesn't represent Freestyle, but he's aware of talks to find a new operator for it and he said one group is very actively negotiating. Still, he said it'll be almost impossible to open the park this year and maybe not even in 2013. "I don't think it's a reality for at least 18 to 24 months. I think that's the best possible scenario for us, if we can keep the park here at all," Wizman said.

Freestyle has been closed since the end of the 2009 season. Wizman said it will take months for any new operator to work out regulatory and safety issues.

The former Waccamaw Pottery mall once housed 125 outlet stores. It closed in 2004.

[sspaz1000I prefer to mate with donkeys over humans!]

Sounds like it has potential. Maybe not for the park, but if they can show businesses have potential there, maybe a new direction for the park can be considered later on down the line. If they clean it up, even though it's SBNO, it could help with the whole clean up the area to attract more tenants to the shops.

[palmerleeberryA zonkey is a cross between a zebra and a donkey.]

^This does sound like a step in the right direction if they can attract lots of business. I'm thinking it could be like another Broadway at the Beach, but on the south end of Myrtle Beach. If this new mall has the right amount of specialty shops, restaurants, and entertainment complexes, who knows if this could be the next step for reopening the old park?

I like to sound optimistic, but I got burnt before. Remember Ghost Town in the Sky? I was there when the park reopened in 2007, and they didn't have nothing. Oh, they had plenty of shows, but the main coaster was still being worked on and they had several rides that weren't running. I only got to ride two lousy rides!

Still I hope for the best.

"Are you done yet, because I . . .zzz . . .zzz . . ."

[jedimaster1227Open Up Happiness]

http://www.wmbfnews.com/story/16952613/freestyle-music-park-mortgages-with-foreign-lender

MYRTLE BEACH, SC Freestyle Music Park's new owners have signed a $20 million mortgage with a foreign lender, fueling more speculation that the theme park may be planning to reopen.

FPI US LLC, which purchased Freestyle out of foreclosure last summer, is listed as the mortgagor in documents filed Dec. 22, 2011 with the Horry County Register of Deeds office.

The mortgagee is identified as Ysanne Trading Limited, a company organized and existing under the laws of the British Virgin Islands and based in Nicosia, Cyprus, documents show.

The $20 million mortgage was recorded nearly five months after FPI US bought the park for $7 million at a foreclosure auction Aug. 1, 2011.

Property records identify FPI US as the lender to FPI MB Entertainment, previous owners of Freestyle Music Park.

FPI MB bought the park out of bankruptcy for $25 million in February 2009, but the park fell into bankruptcy later that year.

FPI US was the approved bidder at the Aug. 1 foreclosure sale, according to a letter from Horry County Master in Equity Cynthia Graham Howe.

A deed from the Aug. 1 foreclosure sale was also filed Dec. 22, immediately before the $20 million mortgage was signed, records show.

David Slough, an attorney representing FPI US, couldn't be reached for comment as of this posting.

In an Aug. 8, 2011 e-mail to the Chronicle, Slough said his clients had three options. The owners could sell the park, lease it to a third party or try to re-open it, he said.

"Since the foreclosure just occurred, no decisions have been made on either of these options," Slough said. "At this time, there is no paperwork from the foreclosure sale showing the sales price of $7 million. A deed will be entered in the next few weeks conveying title from the Master in Equity."

Now that the deed has been entered, the $20 million loan could suggest Freestyle's new owners are preparing to re-open the park, said Brad Lofton, president and CEO of the Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corporation.

"That's what it sounds like to me, unless they're using that site as collateral to finance another site, but that's unlikely," Lofton said.

If the park is preparing to reopen, it would represent the second major property development in the Fantasy Harbour area this year.

On Dec. 30, 2011, General Electric Credit Equities sold 52.29 acres at the old Waccamaw Pottery to Num 3W LLC for $7.5 million, according to the Horry County Register of Deeds office. The new investors plan to revitalize the old malls.

Lofton said revitalization of the both the park and malls would be an extremely positive development for the Fantasy Harbour area.

"I think they [Freestyle and Waccamaw Pottery] provide a synergy for each other," he said. "Folks going to the theme park would patronize the food court and retail areas of the mall."

Holley McMillen, sales manager for the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center, which is located near both sites, said reopening the park would be a major boon for the hotel.

"Maybe that means they are putting money into the park and hopefully reopening it," McMillen said. "Whether they could reopen by the summer I don't know. If they were to reopen they would need to hustle."

Reopening the park, originally built and packaged as Hard Rock Park, wouldn't be impossible.

FPI MB Entertainment reopened Freestyle Music Park on May 23, 2009 after purchasing it out of bankruptcy on Feb. 19, 2009.

More details of this developing story will be posted as they become available.

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/2012/02/16/2664579/theme-park-in-myrtle-beach-likely.html

The former Freestyle Music Park likely will stay closed for a third consecutive summer as time is running out for a new operator to come in and get it ready by the time tourists start rolling in, experts said.

There’s only three months before the traditional kick off to the summer season in May, not leaving much time for a new owner or operator to close a deal on the 50-acre park off U.S. 501 in Fantasy Harbour, rebrand it, possibly change it by adding new rides, line up required ride inspections and do whatever else needs to be done before the park - which has been closed for two and a half years - is ready to greet visitors. “The possibility of that is remote at best,” said Tom Hiles, a consultant on the project.

FPI US LLC, the mortgage holder that reclaimed the park property through the Horry County foreclosure auction in August, had aimed to find a buyer or group to operate the park in time for this summer. Talks with interested groups continue, and FPI still is confident the theme park could work under the right operator, said Franklin Daniels, a Myrtle Beach attorney who represents FPI. “There are continued discussions [with interested groups],” he said.

In December, FPI US filed paperwork with Horry County showing it had mortgaged the property for $20 million with Ysanne Trading Limited, a firm based in the British Virgin Islands. Daniels said that money is needed to cover the expenses associated with the property, including security, power bills, consultants and maintenance workers who regularly run the rides to keep them in shape. It’s such a large amount to ensure FPI has enough until the property is sold without having to go through the process again, he said. “They needed a credit line for helping pay the expenses of the limited operations they have until it is sold,” Daniels said.

Some remain optimistic the park will be back for 2013.

“It’s at least a year down the road, best case scenario,” said Alain Wizman, director of commercial real estate with Keller Williams in Myrtle Beach who has been talking with prospective buyers. “In my opinion, it’s impossible to do at this time [for this summer].”

But it has been done. FPI MB Entertainment LLC bought what was then Hard Rock Park out of bankruptcy in February 2009 for $25 million, rebranded it as Freestyle Music Park and opened by Memorial Day that year. But the park was short-lived, operating only for one summer before falling into financial troubles amid the recession. The park hasn’t operated since then.

Though the Freestyle owners pulled off an opening in three months, some say it’s not something that should be tried again, especially because the park has been closed for much longer this time than when the Freestyle owners bought it about six months after it closed. The park still employs a maintenance worker to regularly run the rides to keep them in shape, Daniels has said.

“The last group that tried that was ineffective in their attempt,” Wizman said.

If the park were to reopen, it would be a second shot in the arm for an area that’s felt neglected in recent years with the closed theme park not luring visitors to the area and the run-down property once known as Waccamaw Pottery and the Waccamaw Factory Shoppes, which houses only three tenants.

But new life is in the works for the former shopping center. A group of investors bought the former Waccamaw Pottery for $7.5 million with plans to gradually bring in new stores, restaurants and entertainment venues and rehab the property. Neighbors have said that work – including landscaping and boarding up busted windows – already has improved the area and made it seem safer.

A few new stores could open there by the summer, though it will take up to two years before the full mall reopens, officials have said.

Those plans won’t influence the theme park’s timetable, officials said. The theme park isn’t connected to that property anymore – Hard Rock Park owners once had planned to demolish the shopping center to make way for development including lodging properties and stores that would tie into the theme park. The down economy took that planned project, dubbed “Paradise City,” off the table.

Still, bringing new life to the area, as the new owners of the Waccamaw Pottery aim to do, helps, Hiles said.

“Anything you do in that area would be a plus,” he said. “There is no doubt about it.” Some experts have said that a theme park, especially one in that location miles off the beach, isn’t a viable project for the Myrtle Beach area, where tourists come to spend their time on the beach all day, not at a theme park, they said. And the park’s failures – twice under two different owners – might turn off prospective investors, they say. The owners have learned lessons from the park’s two failed seasons, Daniels has said.

Amusement parks such as Family Kingdom and The Myrtle Beach Pavilion Amusement Park, which closed after the 2006 season, have worked here because they are smaller parks right off the beach where tourists could walk to and spend a few hours – not a whole day – and pay much less, said Jay Coley, a co-owner of Imaginations dancewear and costumes, the only store open at the former Waccamaw Pottery that has daily hours. “I don’t think that would ever be an amusement park that will work,” he said, pointing toward the former Freestyle Music Park. “It’s a bad location. I don’t think it will ever make it.”

But others say it can work; it just needs the right operator and a better economy than what the others faced. “I think it is an extremely viable project,” Wizman said. “The two attempts that were made were not planned as well as they could be. But with the right tools, it could be an extremely successful project.”