The long-awaited sale of the Brookhaven Country Club may becompleted in June after the development company charged with itssale received a “firm bid” of $621,000 for the property, a companyofficial said Friday.

Joseph J. Luzinski, an associate with Development Specialists ofMiami, said the company will accept additional bids for theproperty at the offices of Burr and Forman, LLP, in Jackson, untilmid-June.

However, if no competing bids are filed, the company will acceptthe $621,000 bid, Luzinski said. The developer declined to identifythe prospective buyer because of a nondisclosure agreement untilthe bid is finalized.

Any competing bid would need to start at $646,000 and includeterms that are at least equal to those of the existing offer, hesaid. A competing bid would need to be filed with the company byJune 15.

Others who have expressed interest in the property have beennotified of the final bid date, Luzinski said.

Regardless of which bid is approved in June, he said the buyershould take ownership by July 4. The contract includes a 21-dayclosing period.

“That’s a reasonable period of time for the bidder or anotherbidder to complete their paperwork and close on the property,”Luzinski said.

The developer said the company was satisfied with the bid.

“We were hoping to get a price that was higher than that. But atthe moment, that’s what the market will bear so that’s where weare,” Luzinski said.

The country club is one of three assets remaining from aclass-action lawsuit settlement brought against Bernie Ebbers byinvestors who lost billions of dollars when WorldCom collapsed in2002. All monies received from the sale of Ebbers’ property isplaced into a fiduciary fund that will be distributed to theplaintiffs.

Other assets remaining to close the trust include a tax refundfrom the Internal Revenue Service and the sale of Ebbers’ stockinterest in KLM Trucking of Jackson, Luzinski said.

Several properties in Brookhaven and a 26,000 farming operationin Vidalia, La., were sold last year.

Columbus Lumber Company was sold for $17.75 million in July andproperty that included three homes in Brookhaven was sold for $7.5million in June. The Angelina Plantation in Vidalia brought $30million in September, Luzinski said.

Addressing rumors that the country club may be closed and itsproperty converted to a subdivision or other development, Luzinskisaid he does not expect the purchase to have a significant changein its operations, he said.

“There’s been a lot of rumors and talk about things that aretotally fabricated,” he said. “It’s a good, juicy topic to talkabout. As far as I know, he plans to continue its operation as theBrookhaven Country Club.”