Balboa Bay Club

A deal to sell the Balboa Bay Club and Newport Beach Country Club to a wealthy Hong Kong businessman has collapsed. The $174.5-million deal for the combination yacht club and hotel and its sister Newport Beach Country Club was called off Jan. 13. Investor Winston Chung never came up with the money as agreed, forfeiting what city documents show was a nonrefundable $4-million down payment. "We were told he was having difficulty moving money out of China," David Wooten, chief executive of the clubs, said Monday.

Firefighters evacuated the fourth floor of the Balboa Bay Club & Resort after an apartment caught fire Wednesday evening. Shortly before 5 p.m., George Lysak, executive director of sales and marketing for the club, returned to his apartment and found smoke billowing inside. He called the club's engineering department, which then contacted the Newport Beach Fire and Police Departments and evacuated the building. A Newport Beach Fire Department truck was driving by the club at that time, said Jennifer Schulz, spokeswoman for the Newport Beach fire department.

Richard S. Stevens — co-owner and president of the Balboa Bay Club in the 1960s and 1970s, a commissioner for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles and developer of resorts and clubs throughout the world — died at home early Thursday morning in his sleep. He was 80. Stevens was born July 4, 1930, in Long Beach to Margaret Virginia and Merrill Emerson Stevens. He attended high school in South Pasadena and studied at UC Berkeley, where he also was a running back on the football team and a player in the Rose Bowl three times.

Are you a foodie? I am. Fine wine, great food, I think about them all the time. Cannot be trusted around either of them. It's pathetic. I have no control. My willpower is powerless, every time I get on a digital scale, the little window says, "One at a time, please. " But nevermind that. The only thing that matters is Friday. If you're a foodie, that is the day that you win the lottery, you're 18 again and the IRS calls and says, "Nevermind. Your return is fine; we had the wrong name.

Paul Clinton NEWPORT BEACH -- The Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board has slapped the Balboa Bay Club with a $5,000 fine stemming from a sewage spill in September. The board issued the fine Feb. 23 in a letter to the club's president, David Wooten. The club must either pay the fine by April 4 or request a public hearing to dispute it. It is the club's first violation. Wooten could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Other club members also did not return calls.

The Devil Dogs are on their way to Newport Beach. The city of Newport Beach and the 1st Battalion, 1st Marines Adoption Committee are set to welcome U.S. Marines from Camp Pendleton to Thursday's Mess Night. The black-tie dinner, which will be held at the Balboa Bay Club & Resort, is a tradition for Marines who are preparing to serve in a combat situation. "It's like a salute to the warrior," Arches owner Dan Marcheano said. Last October, about 180 Marines visited Newport for Mess Night before being deployed to Iraq.

June Casagrande NEWPORT BEACH -- A regional water agency has fined the Balboa Bay Club $60,000 for 20 separate violations of raising sulfide levels in nearby waters beyond acceptable limits. The high sulfide levels in the bay waters near the club are caused by construction work, said Gary Stewart, chief of surveillance and enforcement for the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board. Stewart explained that ground water at the site has been pumped out to allow the construction of some underground facilities of the club.

dpt-thecrowd12TextM828E1EDON THE WEB To comment on this column, go to www.dailypilot.com and click on "Blogs and Columns." Then click on the column and scroll to the bottom to find the comments field. The opening of the summer season at the Balboa Bay Club & Resort unfolded with pride and purpose on a recent Sunday afternoon, in what has become a tradition in Newport Beach. Beyond the social mingling of both longtime Newporters and young families with children in tow, worthy students from the Newport-Mesa School District were presented with much-deserved scholarship funds to be used in the pursuit of higher education.

We're heading into the meat of golf's major championship season, which got me thinking? What are the criteria to host a U.S. Open or PGA Championship? Do the powers that be at area golf courses desire to stage one of these events? And, perhaps the most critical question is: Are events of that magnitude feasible and make economic, logistical sense at a certain venue? Let's discuss the pros for hosting a tournament with U.S. Open or PGA Championship magnitude. First, the pros: 1. Exposure.

International Bay Clubs Inc., parent company of the Balboa Bay Club & Resort and the Newport Beach Country Club, has been sold to investors in Irvine. Eagle Four Partners, a private equity group, and Pacific Hospitality Group LLC, a hotel management group, will assume joint management of both properties. "One of the great things about this asset is that it is historic and iconic," Kory Kramer, vice president of acquisitions and development of Pacific Hospitality Group, said Tuesday.

SATURDAY Community Run The fifth annual Costa Mesa Community Fun Run kicks off in 10-kilometer, 5K and 2K categories to benefit the community and the foundations supporting TeWinkle and Costa Mesa middle schools, as well as Estancia and Costa Mesa high schools. Packet pickup and late registration will start at 6:30 a.m.; The 5K and 10K races will start at 8 a.m., followed by the start of the 2K race at 9 a.m. The event is at Fairview Park and Estancia High School. For more information and to register online, visit http://www.costamesacommunityrun.com.

Mariners Christian School raised $250,000 through its spring fundraiser in Newport Beach for programs and school supplies. The money raised at the Costa Mesa K-8 private school's annual Spring Benefit and Auction on March 30 at the Balboa Bay Club will be used for teacher iPads, golf practice nets and a rubberized outdoor play surface as well as academic and extracurricular programs. "It was an amazing evening," Head of School Bob Sladek said in a prepared statement. "The Balboa Bay Club is a great place to hold the event.

An evening in Newport Coast attracted Orange County VIPs to an intimate yet serious salon gathering on behalf of the local Make-A-Wish Foundation. The private gathering raised $100,000 in donations from guests, including Angels President and Chairman Dennis Kuhl , Irvine Co. Vice President Steve Friedlander and his wife, Marie , and Montage Resort General Manager Todd Orlich and his wife, Victoria . Hosted by make-A-Wish board members Daniel Kim and Joel Solomon , the event was billed as the 2012 Inaugural Cornerstone.

Celebrating in great style the Chinese New Year 4710, the Year of the Water Dragon, hostess Elizabeth An of AnQi in South Coast Plaza invited some 50 local VIPs to a luncheon in her private dining room. An was joined by David Grant and Werner Escher of South Coast Plaza hosting the affair at a spectacular banquet table. It was festooned with multiple arrangements of red blossoms, all symbolizing good luck in the coming year. Dining publicist to the stars Lee Healy greeted arriving patrons, including the local legend Gloria Zigner prior to luncheon service, which consisted of four courses, each designed to bless the Year of the Water Dragon with good fortune.

What do you do when it turns out a wealthy investor can't actually come up with $174.5 million as promised? If you're Beverly Ray Parkhurst, who owns the landmark Balboa Bay Club and Resort in Newport Beach, you call off your planned sale of the company to Winston Chung of Hong Kong and entertain other offers, as the Times reported Tuesday. And with your financials improving, you may decide to hold off on a sale altogether for now, a top club official said. Chung, a battery and electric-vehicle entrepreneur, attracted considerable attention over the last two years by investing in Southern California specialty-vehicle makers and promising to establish a green transportation industry in the Southland.

A deal to sell the Balboa Bay Club and Newport Beach Country Club to a wealthy Hong Kong businessman has collapsed. The $174.5-million deal for the combination yacht club and hotel and its sister Newport Beach Country Club was called off Jan. 13. Investor Winston Chung never came up with the money as agreed, forfeiting what city documents show was a nonrefundable $4-million down payment. "We were told he was having difficulty moving money out of China," David Wooten, chief executive of the clubs, said Monday.