Sold! Montana’s Yellowstone Club Goes for $115 Million

CrossHarbor Capital Partners LLC paid $115 million to buy Montana’s Yellowstone Club out of bankruptcy court yesterday. The Boston-based private-equity firm agreed to pay $35 million in cash and assume $80 million in debt owed to Credit Suisse. CrossHarbor will also infuse up to $75 million in working capital.

CrossHarbor’s principal, Sam Byrne, is a Yellowstone Club member, and has been closely following its fortunes. In 2008, CrossHarbor attempted to acquire the club for $450 million.

According to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, the sale capped a week of non-stop negotations in the court of federal bankruptcy Judge Ralph Kirscher. The only other bidder was Credit Suisse, which in 2005 loaned $375 million to Tim and Edra Blixseth, the now divorced couple who jointly founded the club.

As part of the final deal, Credit Suisse will be allowed to co-invest in the club with CrossHarbor. Credit Suisse also received additional assets, including Yellowstone Club real estate and a castle in France that the Blixseths had acquired. Unsecured creditors were recognized by the court as $19 million was set aside to pay local vendors, tradesmen, and others.

This marks the second major bankruptcy ruling in as many months involving Credit Suisse. In April the Promontory Club outside of Park City, Utah, sold to the Pivotal Group for $30 million. Credit Suisse had put together a $350 million loan package for Pivotal, which it used to develop the resort community before seeking bankruptcy protection.

According to the CrossHarbor website, the LLC “is an active investor in the distressed securities market. We invest in a wide variety of securities including real estate loans, corporate loans, and structured securities that are suffering from stress including monetary and/or technical defaults.”

Read more at:
“Cross Harbor Wins Yellowstone Auction,” Bozeman Daily Chronicle, May 18, 2009.

Sold! Utah’s Promontory Club

Yet another twist to a story we’ve been covering out of Park City, Utah.

Last year, the Pivotal Group, developers of the 7,200-acre Promontory Club, threw in the towel and sought bankruptcy protection. At stake was more than $350 million in loans packaged by Credit Suisse as well as a choice swath of 7,200 acres overlooking Utah’s Park City.

In bankruptcy court last month, the Promontory Club failed to sell. Guess who ended up with it? An affiliate of the Phoenix-based Pivotal Group. That’s right: the developer who defaulted on $350 million in loans purchased the property out of bankruptcy. The price? $30 million.

The 7,200-acre property features luxury second homes situated around Pete Dye and Jack Nicklaus golf courses and world-class skiing in nearby Park City.

Read more at:
“Bankrupt Luxury Community Sold to Same Developer,” Associated Press, April 17, 2009.

Jeff Gordon to Sell Aspen Ranch?

The Aspen Times is reporting that four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon is under contract to sell his 2,000-acre Aspen ranch. The buyer? John MacDonald, a Dallas developer who created the Dallas National Golf Club. According to the report in the Aspen newspaper, Gordon bought the acreage in 2006 for $9 million. No word on his sale price. The property is divided into two parcels: a 1,400-acre upper ranch, which will not be developed, and a 500-acre lower ranch, where the golf course is slated to be located. Gordon himself plans to retain 50 acres in the lower ranch and will receive several memberships in the proposed club.

More Details Emerge on the Crested Butte Mountain Resort Sale

Last Friday’s sale of Colorado’s Crested Butte Ski Resort, part of a three-ski-area package acquired by CNL Lifestyle Properties from Triple Peaks LLC for $132 million, marks the second change in ownership for the Gunnison County landmark in less than five years. In 2002, Triple Peaks, which is owned by Tim and Diane Mueller, was set to buy Steamboat Springs Ski Area from American Skiing Co. (ASC) for $91.4 million, but ASC backed out. The Muellers perservered, however, and two years later they acquired Crested Butte from the Callaway and Walton families in March 2004. Here’s the official lowdown on last week’s sale, which was broadcast via email earlier today:

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CNL Lifestyle Properties to Pay $132 Million for Crested Butte, Okemo, and Mount Sunapee

CNL Lifestyle Properties, an Orlando-based real-estate investment trust (REIT) will announce today that it is acquiring Crested Butte Ski Resort in Colorado (pictured), Okemo Mountain Resort in Vermont, and Mount Sunapee Ski Resport in New Hampshire from Triple Peaks LLC of Ludlow, Vermont. According to The Wall Street Journal, CNL will pay $132 million for the three ski areas, which Triple Peaks will continue to operate. Read more

More Coverage on the Yellowstone Club Bankruptcy Case

It wasn’t two years ago that every media outlet known to man was clamoring over one another to give more column inches to the biggest, gawdiest monstrosity in the West: the Yellowstone Club’s record-breaking $155-million home. Though we’ve banged the drum on many an occasion, I’m pleased to say The Land Report did not jump on that bandwagon. But we readily admit to watching the feeding frenzy as those same news channels cover the demise of the elite enclave, including these two incisive reports. Read more

Tiger Woods Debuts His First U.S. Course in North Carolina

When it comes to golf course design, the Big Three has now become the Big Four. Developers looking to entice buyers with courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, Tom Fazio, and Robert Trent Jones can now add Tiger Woods to the list of potential designers. Read more

Developer’s Diary: Ute Lake Ranch

A couple of weeks ago my fearless editor and I hitched a ride on a single-engine prop from Denver’s Centennial Airport to Tucumcari, the heart of northeast New Mexico, for a visit to a great new resort development we had been hearing about. Read more

Park City Tops Hot Markets in the West

Open range, snow capped peaks, and beautiful views embody what many seek when searching for their first piece of property. One need look no further than the scenic American West when searching for this ideal piece of land.

The Rocky Mountain area continues to be a prime location for landowners seeking convenience and amenity in their purchase. John Pierce of Hall & Hall Ranch Sales says many looking to move to the Rockies do so because of the traditional resort ski areas.

“You have your resort communities and properties within reasonable striking distance of those ski communities. There are Jackson, Steamboat, Vail, and Aspen, those kinds of markets. You have your lesser known like Missoula, Livingston, Bozeman, those areas have been strong although they aren’t first and foremost known as ski towns,” Pierce says. “They are more known as nice communities within reasonable proximity of skiing but not known as a ski community.”

One area where Pierce says he’s seen the most growth is Park City, Utah. Names like Aspen and Snowmass are synonymous with skiing; cost and overcrowding have some potential buyers looking elsewhere.

“You’ve seen a lot of growth in the Park City area because of convenience. [An airport] hub like Salt Lake City where you’re 30 minutes into the mountains from the point you touch down is extremely convenient,” Pierce says.

Park City is 40 miles from the Salt Lake City International Airport while Aspen and Steamboat Springs are more than 180 miles from Denver International Airport.

“With commercial flight becoming more challenging, that’s a big part of it. You go into Denver, and it’s still quite a ways to the ski areas. It’s not as convenient as Salt Lake City with Deer Valley and Park City. That’s certainly an area where we’ve seen a fair amount of growth,” Pierce says. “Going to an Aspen or a Sun Valley; it’s that much more complicated.”

If there is property to be had, many willing buyers are there ready to scoop it up. Pierce says access is the key with many weekend warriors flying to their land from “the major money centers around the country.”

It’s a national draw so air travel is a must.

Still, Pierce says, there isn’t a slowdown in any ski resort communities in the area on the horizon. There will always be buyers for properties in the traditional ski areas.

Hall and Hall’s listings currently point to a high demand market. There are no properties in Pitkin County (Aspen) and only one property, an 876-acre retreat, in the Park City area.

A recent article in the Salt Lake Tribune says that home sales in the area are sagging with more than 2,600 homes priced in excess of $500,000 on the market. Acreage is harder to find however. The Wasatch Front MLS lists only 34 properties with more than four acres of land.

“We have definitely seen more funds coming into the marketplace place as potential buyers where they are looking at it as an investment,” Pierce says.

Promontory Club Seeks Bankruptcy Protection

What a difference a mortgage meltdown can make. A few years ago, I was touring the high country meadows outside Park City with Jack Nicklaus and his design team as the Golden Bear crafted one of his Signature Courses at the Promontory Club. The latest amenity there? Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

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