The Tamarack ski resort in Idaho is to close it’s doors. We have followed the drama as credit markets collapsed and loans defaulted, but options have finally exhausted themselves and the main creditor, Credit Suisse, has decided to pull the plug after the resort suffered a $2.8 million operating loss since Oct. 20 – “greater than the receiver anticipated,” as skiers failed to arrive and hotel revenues fell.
Back in September 2008, the resort was almost closed down when Bank of America started foreclosure proceedings and threatened to remove two of the seven ski lifts.
As usual, the drama played out included massive spending sprees by the resort’s principals, but things came to a head last year as construction stopped completely, and no doubt legal battles will continue for some time. Perhaps not quite as entertaining as the Yellowstone luxury residence club drama (No French Chateaux, private jets or Mexican ranches involved here,) and we are keen to see how that one eventually plays out.
A number of individual properties were actually completed and sold, although it is probably not going to be easy to get to those properties – or sell them on with the resort closed. Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi both put their names to a luxury hotel/sports complex, but have sensibly faded into the woodwork. The club house needed emergency work to protect it from the ravages of winter, but where we go from here is unclear. Whatever happens it seems the bank has reached the end of the line. Do I hear ten cents on the dollar? Five?
