Coral Beach could close at the end of this year if its plan to sell the facilities to the members for some $28 million fails.It’s understood most members of the exclusive club have balked at paying $35,000 to its US operator Brickman Associates as part of an equity conversion plan giving them ownership of just the club facilities and not the rooms or majority of land on which Brickman holds a 200-year lease.But there is a serious effort by some members to get Brickman to reduce that sum to encourage enough members to agree to the plan. Meanwhile, other members are said to be exploring the possibility of coughing up hundreds of thousands each to buy the lease as a group if it is even for sale.Brickman sent a letter to the members this week, outlining the next steps in its equity conversion plan and clearing up any confusion on dues.Noting that a new fiscal year was starting June 1, Brickman said it would collect membership for six months only June through November.“This will give assurance that the Coral Beach Club will be open for business as usual during these months and will allow enough time for the process of transferring ownership of the club facilities from Brickman to the membership,“ Brickman principal Rob Coakley wrote to members on Monday.He did not say what would happen after November 30 or if members did not agree to the ownership plan. Brickman did not respond to requests for comment.One longtime member said he could not see a deal happening unless the amount Brickman was asking was brought down to “a more sensible number”.He added that Brickman had been very co-operative and was working with those members who want to keep the property open so that the longtime staff can stay on and members can continue to enjoy the club’s facilities, beach and tennis courts.In the letter, Mr Coakley said Brickman was “actively working with the emerging membership representative group to forge a conversion plan that can satisfy both the members and Brickman”.“We have completed our scheduled meetings in Bermuda and abroad (except for Toronto which we hope to schedule shortly) and thank those who attended for letting us present our equity conversion plan,” Mr Coakley wrote.“For those of you who were unable to attend we are happy to speak with you at your convenience and can send a copy of the plan upon request. We received a great deal of feedback from our meetings ... To that end, we hope to have the offering documents ready to mail out to the membership as soon as possible but will not rush the process at the expense of being thorough and comprehensive.“The process will likely go into the summer months, past the club fiscal year beginning June 1st. Thus, at the suggestion of the membership representative group, Brickman will issue dues invoices in May for six months only (June 1st through November 30th) for half of the dollar amount normally assessed.“Please note that this dues assessment is an entirely separate issue from the $5,000 deposit required to participate in the equity conversion plan. That $5,000 deposit will be due within 45 days after the offering documents are mailed out, and as stated in the second paragraph, that will occur once Brickman and the membership have reached an agreement in principle on a conversion plan that has the best chance of succeeding.”As part of the proposed equity conversion, the some 1,500 local and overseas members would have to make an investment of $35,000 (resident) or $20,000 (non-resident) and take on at least $5.5 million in debt owed by Brickman.Brickman said the new owner memberships would be exclusively for use of the club facilities and should not be viewed as an investment from which they can profit.Furthermore, Brickman said in a letter to the US SEC about its plan, that members would not be entitled to share in any income generated by the operation of the new “equity club” nor could they sell or transfer their memberships other than to the ”equity club” by resigning them and waiting for them to be reissued to a new member, while continuing to pay dues.Brickman in return said it would set aside in escrow $11 million for a capital improvement programme to make badly needed upgrades to the club facilities and also $3 million to redo its guest rooms, which Brickman would retain.Brickman came up with the idea to sell the club facilities to the membership after scrapping a plan to redevelop the prime South Shore property as a five-star Four Seasons 150-room resort and residences.