The Howard Gilman Foundation announced Wednesday it has completed the sale of the 7,400-acre White Oak wildlife conservation facility, resort and conference center to Kimbra and Mark Walter, owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
No purchase price was disclosed.
Mark Walter is CEO of Guggenheim Capital LLC and the chairman and controlling owner of the Dodgers.
According to the Gilman Foundation, the Walters support conservation and wildlife programs across North America and intend to continue and expand the programs "that have been the hallmark of White Oak for more than 30 years."
The foundation said the Walters will continue to support the arts at White Oak through the Mikhail Baryshnikov Dance Studio and other initiatives.
White Oak is about 30 miles north of Jacksonville in Yulee on the Florida-Georgia border.
With a conference center and lodging, the secluded property has hosted presidents and personalities, including former President Bill Clinton and ballet star Mikhail Baryshnikov.
"We are honored to be the new stewards of White Oak and its unique and valuable conservation programs, which Howard Gilman initiated and his staff so ably managed," Mark Walter said in the news release.
"Our primary mission is to build upon the work already under way at White Oak to create an international model for the humane and effective breeding and repopulation of endangered species," he said.
The Walters "also envision White Oak as a gathering point to inspire ideas and collaborations among individuals and organizations interested not only in conservation but issues such as environmental sustainability, land stewardship, arts and education," he said.
The Howard Gilman Foundation, a private foundation based in New York City, put White Oak up for sale in April 2012 "with the express intention of finding a qualified buyer who shared the values and traditions that Howard Gilman supported altruistically through his foundation, which had oversight of White Oak," said the release.
The Walters became interested in the property in late 2012. In addition to White Oak, the Walters support conservation programs in Texas and New Mexico and are supporters of the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, said the release.
"The Walter family shares many of the perspectives on wildlife conservation and the performing arts that Mr. Gilman considered important," said Mary Farrell, president of the Howard Gilman Foundation, in the release.
Steve Shurter has been appointed executive director of White Oak Conservation Holdings LLC, which the Walters established to manage the White Oak operation and facilities.
Shurter is involved in global zoo and wildlife conservation efforts.
The Walters, White Oak management and advisers will "undertake a comprehensive strategic planning process to determine the most effective ways for White Oak to carry out its intended mission," said the release.
Mark Walter also serves as a trustee or director of several organizations, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, Security Benefit Corp. and the EquiTrust Life holding company, and he is the controlling shareholder of Delaware Life Holdings LLC.
Kimbra Walter is a member of the board of directors of Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo. She also is active in charitable organizations in the Chicago area that support the needs of economically disadvantaged children and families in need.
White Oak is located along the St. Marys River, 30 miles north of Jacksonville.
It includes hardwood hammocks, pine forest and tidal wetlands. White Oak also sustains rare wild animals through conservation training, research, education, breeding and field programs.
White Oak also can accommodate conferences and workshops. It has meeting facilities and lodging options.
For information, visit whiteoakwildlife.org and gilmanfoundation.org.
Citing a Wall Street Journal story, the Daily Record reported April 13, 2012, that the Howard Gilman Foundation put White Oak Plantation up for sale.
The Wall Street Journal had reported White Oak was the latest victim of the housing bust. It said the foundation operates the property with proceeds of its 96 percent investment in Gilman Building Products Co., a private lumber business founded by Gilman's family in the early 1980s.
Revenue at the lumber company was hit hard by the housing downturn that began in 2008, according to the Journal in the April 2012 report.
The Journal said the value of the foundation's assets had fallen from $175 million in 2008 to $127 million at the end of 2010, according to tax filings.
It reported that the foundation initially responded to declining income from the building company by cutting back on program funding and reducing the White Oak staff by nearly half.
The Gilman family, founders of Gilman Paper Co. in Georgia, bought the plantation in 1938, according to reports. Howard Gilman died in 1998, leaving the Howard Gilman Foundation, based in New York, to run White Oak and support other causes. The Gilman International Conservation Foundation has since been created to help support conservation center programs and international efforts.
The Journal said in April 2012 the foundation estimated the value of the property at $30 million and hoped to find a wealthy individual or investors who might turn White Oak into a high-end resort or conference center.
The Journal said the plantation houses 270 animals, including rhinoceroses, the ostrichlike cassowary, cheetahs and giant eland, a type of large African antelope.
It said about 60 percent of the $5 million annual cost to operate White Oak is used for upkeep of the animals.
Daily Record reporters toured the White Oak Conservation Center in June 2011. The center is a 600-acre facility in the center of the plantation.
Established in 1982, the center is involved in breeding and raising more than 25 species of endangered and threatened wildlife.
In addition to exotic animals, White Oak also is involved in breeding and preserving the Florida panther and the Mississippi Sandhill Crane.
The cheetah breeding program began in 1987.
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