Bankruptcy delays foreclosure at former Royal Virginia Golf Course site

A foreclosure sale at the former Royal Virginia Golf Course site has been put on hold, giving Tranquility Farms LLC a temporary shield while the future of 151 acres off Royal Virginia Parkway remains unresolved.

Tranquility Farms, the entity controlled by Goochland businesswoman Arlene Simmons, filed for Chapter 11 protection on April 18, two days before a foreclosure auction scheduled for the Goochland County Courthouse steps. The case, filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and assigned to Judge Keith L. Phillips, moved the dispute out of the public auction setting and into federal court, where the first major step was a May 21 creditors’ meeting. For now, the filing delays any immediate sale and gives Simmons time to try to work out a deal with the lender.

The debt tied to the property was nearly $530,000 and was owed to Goochland resident Timothy Maloney through his family’s Quest Trust Company arrangement. Court records show the loan was incurred in February 2025, and Maloney began foreclosure proceedings in March 2026. The property’s legal limbo matters locally because any eventual sale or restructuring could determine whether the long-idle parcel moves toward housing, stays in agricultural use, or shifts into some conservation-related plan that keeps development off the site.

Simmons bought the former clubhouse and 151 acres in May 2022 for $750,000 through Humanitarian Ambassadors of America Community Development Corp. At the time, she described a four-phase, $33 million Gardens of Tranquility plan that would include a memorial for people who died from COVID-19, rock gardens and memorial walls. Nearby homeowners raised concerns about traffic, upkeep and not being included in planning conversations. Simmons later shifted to a senior-living concept under the Tranquility Farms name, with documents describing about $30 million in investment and 180 residential units for active seniors and veterans, along with equestrian therapy, walking trails, gardens and a driving range.

The site has already been through several versions of future-use talk. Richmond BizSense reported the land was listed in 2023 for $1.8 million, then put up for auction with a $400,000 opening bid; when bidding climbed to $750,000 and did not meet Simmons’ expectations, the asking price was reset at $1.5 million. The parcel is zoned A-1, leaving room for agricultural uses such as a winery, vineyard, hops farm, brewery or hemp processing, along with conservation-style possibilities such as wetlands banking or easements.

The broader question for Goochland County is no longer just who owns the former course, but what kind of development, if any, can finally happen there. The Royal Virginian course has been closed since 2018, and the next decision points now sit with the bankruptcy court, not the courthouse steps, while nearby residents wait to see whether the property is sold, refinanced or redesigned yet again.