December 7, 2009 --Wells Fargo has taken ownership of a large resort in northern Minnesota and recently hired a Twin Cities commercial brokerage firm to market the property.

The local office of CB Richard Ellis is listing Big Sandy Lodge & Resort, a 30-acre property in McGregor, about 50 miles north of Brainerd, for $4.5 million. A marketing brochure prepared by CBRE says the property includes 57 separate properties, including townhouses, cabins, log-home lots and vacant land. There's also a lodge with 18 guest rooms, two restaurants and an indoor pool.

The property overlooks Big Sandy Lake and most recently was owned by a group of Twin Cities investors. They bought it in 2001 from the original owner who had called the resort Kare Phree Pines. The original amount of the group's mortgage was $13.2 million, according to the Aitkin County Recorder's Office. About $6.7 million was still owed when Wells Fargo foreclosed on the property earlier this year, buying it at a sheriff's sale for $4.1 million, the recorder's office said. Wells Fargo declined to comment.

Susan Feyder --612-673-1723

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