After seizure of Coral Gables Country Club, deal reached and lawsuit dropped
One week after the Coral Gables Country Club was seized with the help of police to prevent the operator from taking equipment out of the premises, the city and the operator have reached a settlement agreement.
If the deal is approved by the City Commission on April 26, Coral Gables will pay club operators Nick Di Donato and his nephew Anthony Di Donato an undisclosed sum for the club’s equipment as the city takes over control of the publicly owned facility starting May 2.
“We are pleased to announce that the City of Coral Gables has reached a mutually acceptable agreement with Coral Grand, LLC and Coral Gables Athletic Club, LP,” city spokesperson Martha Pantin said in a statement Thursday, referring to two entities controlled by the Di Donatos. “The city is pleased to move forward to serve the residents of Coral Gables and maintain this iconic and historic property.”
David Winker, an attorney for the country club operators, said his clients were “ecstatic” about the deal.
“We’re going to hand over the facility as is, so the residents can continue to enjoy it,” Winker said. “My client is happy to amicably settle this.”
Winker had previously blasted the city’s lawsuit against the club operators and seizure of assets as an illegal taking of private property that the operators had purchased themselves, while the city argued it was necessary to stop the operators from executing an alleged plan to load items into a truck and take them to Canada, where Nick Di Donato lives.
Winker said the dispute had hinged on the dollar amount for the club’s equipment. The city had appraised the equipment at around $370,000 while the operators said it was worth about $1 million.
The country club has been operating normally even after Miami-Dade police helped a court-appointed receiver, retired Judge Joel H. Brown, secure the facility and take control of its bank accounts on April 13. Weddings scheduled for last weekend took place as planned and the club’s fitness center and Liberty Caffe restaurant stayed open.
Winker said the operators have now agreed to let Brown “supervise” the transfer of assets from the Di Donatos to the city in the coming days, even though a judge is no longer mandating the receiver’s involvement.
The city’s lawsuit against the operators was dropped after the settlement was reached.
The country club is owned by the city and has been operated by the Di Donatos for about a decade. The city had solicited bids from other potential operators, including influential lobbyist and businessman Rodney Barreto, but Barreto dropped his bid in January in response to public backlash.
The city’s Community Recreation Department will begin managing the club in May.
This story was originally published April 21, 2022 at 1:46 PM.
