South Jersey’s Clementon Park Goes to Auction After Lawsuit Alleges Default on $4.5M Loan

A shuttered 52-acre South Jersey amusement park is going to auction and being billed as a redevelopment opportunity after its owners allegedly defaulted on bank loans. 

Bidding on the storied Clementon Park and Splash World, which closed suddenly in September 2019, is scheduled for March 23 at the 114-year-old Berlin Road property. 

The auction listing on Capital Recovery Group’s website states the park could be auctioned off as a whole or piecemeal, with different bidding packages available for buyers of the rides and equipment, liquor license or real estate. 

It also states the sale is by order of a receiver, Howard Samuels, who did not return a request for comment Wednesday.

News of the auction comes just a day after TD Bank N.A. filed an amended complaint against Clementon Lake Holdings LLC and Clementon Lake Management LLC, seeking to foreclose on the property and asking the court to appoint a receiver to facilitate its sale. The lawsuit has not been previously reported.

The attorney representing TD Bank in the legal action, Timothy Duggan, declined to comment. The park’s owner, Oklahoma-based amusement park company Premier Parks, did not respond to a request for comment.

TD filed the initial complaint against the Clementon Park LLCs in October, a year after it alleges the owner stopped making payments on a $4.5 million loan and $1.25 million line of credit. 

According to the lawsuit, the LLCs owe more than $2.1 million in outstanding principal, interest and fees stemming from the $4.5 million loan, and more than $500,000 on the $1.25 million line of credit. 

Clementon Park was a longtime attraction for local families and field trips before its shuttered in 2019. At the time of the closure the complex was one of the oldest operating amusement parks in the world.

The park property spans more than 52 acres, including a 23-acre, spring-fed lake. The auction listing states the property also includes a 4,000 square-foot historic home on the site, as well as subdivided lots that could be used for a “mixed use commercial-residential redevelopment opportunity.” 

The rides themselves are able to be disassembled and fit into shipping containers. Some of the ones for sale include the Ring of Fire full loop ride, the Sea Dragon swing ride, and the Hellcat roller coaster, built with a steel frame and wooden deck. Family-style and kids rides, like the Tilt-a-Whirl, the Ferris wheel and mini-roller coaster the Dragon Coaster, are also up for sale.

An inspection for the property will be held on March 19, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The auction will start at 10 a.m. on March 23. 

*Article courtesy of Philadelphia Business Journal

For more information about this South Jersey land for sale or about any other South Jersey commercial properties for lease or sale, please contact the team at Wolf Commercial Real Estate, the foremost South Jersey commercial real estate brokerage firm. At 856-857-6300.

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