Billionaire Sheila Johnson sells PGA Tour resort for $19.8 million

Billionaire Sheila Johnson, the co-founder of Black Entertainment Television, has agreed to sell Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Palm Harbor, Florida, for $19.8 million in cash.

The resort is the longtime home of the PGA Tour's Valspar Championship.

Johnson's hotel company, Salamander Collection, signed the agreement on Oct. 28 to sell the property to companies connected to Concert Golf Partners, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission signed on Nov. 3.

The deal includes the resort's golf courses, its hospitality operations, and three condominium units with related assets.

Salamander will keep about 34 acres of land and the development rights that come with it.

The sale is set to close on Dec. 31, though the date can be extended.

The closing depends on conditions that include a development agreement and lease covering the land Salamander is keeping.

Salamander expects to repay a loan from Truist Bank when the deal closes.

Innisbrook's Copperhead Course has hosted the Valspar Championship since 2000, when the event began as the Tampa Bay Classic.

An agreement keeps the tournament at the resort through 2030.

The next edition is scheduled for May 6 to 9, 2027.

The two companies said in a joint statement that the sale is expected to close "in the coming months, subject to customary closing conditions."

They said "no immediate operational changes are planned at this time."

Concert Golf said it plans to "build on the foundation established by" Johnson and Salamander and to keep Innisbrook's staff.

Salamander will stay on as a consultant after the deal closes.

Concert Golf, based in Lake Mary, Florida, owns about 40 private golf clubs in 20 states, including Carrollwood Country Club in Tampa.

Innisbrook would add 63 holes of golf, restaurants, a spa, and more than 65,000 square feet of meeting space to its portfolio.

Salamander bought the roughly 600-acre resort from Golf Trust of America Inc. for $35 million in 2007.

It sold about 54 acres to homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc. in 2023 for net proceeds of $12.5 million.

Toll plans to build 122 single-family homes and 52 townhouses there.

The resort's revenue fell 1.6% to $46.5 million in 2025.

It posted a net loss of $2.15 million in 2025, after losing $2.01 million in 2024.

Room revenue dropped 10.6%.

Management blamed the decline largely on lost lodging and food and beverage business after Hurricanes Helene and Milton hit the region.

A PGA Tour resort is a property that hosts a Tour event under a multi-year agreement.

The Tour typically negotiates a contract with the host venue, and the tournament's future depends on the new owner honoring that deal.

Concert Golf Partners is a private club operator that has grown rapidly by acquiring high-end golf properties across the United States.

The company's portfolio includes clubs in Florida, Texas, California, New York, and other states.

Private club operators often convert public-access facilities into member-only clubs, though Concert Golf has said it plans no immediate changes at Innisbrook.

The Valspar Championship is one of the PGA Tour's standard-season events, typically held in the spring.

Its field includes top Tour professionals competing for FedEx Cup points and a prize purse that has increased in recent years.

Sheila Johnson, with an estimated net worth of several hundred million dollars, is one of the few Black female billionaires in the United States.