(logo is the exclusive property of Tamarack Resort, Inc.)To those of you who don't know, Tamarack Resort is a ski resort in central Idaho, about 90 miles north of Boise. This is not a small mom-and-pop ski area either -- the resort has seven chairlifts, including two high-speed detachable quads. They have 1,100 acres of terrain -- which is comparable in size to Aspen, Colorado. And that wasn't all; the resort also has an 18-hole Trent Jones golf course and literally an entire village that's nearly complete, wrapped in Tyvek. You may recall that when Tamarack opened in 2004 in was described as "the new destination resort in North America in twenty years." Unfortunately things have only gone downhill. The resort closed last March when receivers ran out of money to operate the resort. It's now in $300 million worth of debt. Now it's just sitting there, empty (aside for a small maintenance staff), waiting for a "white knight" to come in and save the day.
Today lenders pushed back a hearing (which, in part, is about the need for cash from lenders to flow to the resort) until tomorrow. Lenders, led by Credit Suisse (the Swiss bank that is attributed with Yellowstone Club's bankruptcy), will have to decide whether to allow $195,000 worth of insurance payments to be paid. If an agreement to fund the resort cannot be reach, the court will begin to transfer control of the resort back to the owners, including Jean-Pierre Boespflug.
What's interesting, however, is the fact that two primary potential bidders have now emerged as candidates to buy the place out of bankruptcy. Starwood Capital bought the majority stake in Mammoth Mountain, CA in 2005 for $365 million. Apollo Investments owns AMC Entertainment, Harrah's, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Coldwell Banker/Century 21 Realty. Apollo also owned/invested in Vail Resorts in the 1990s. Their ownership really molded Vail Associates into the company that it is today.
So while the saga continues, it looks like there might be a light at the end of the tunnel for Tamarack Resort. We'll keep you posted on this developing story.
UPDATE #1: The judge has approved funding for Tamarack Resort's receivers through June 21 -- this Sunday. A $35,000 liability insurance bill was paid, but a $160,000 property tax bill was not.
UPDATE #2: Tamarack Resort's owner, Jean-Pierre Boespflug was quoted in an interview yesterday as saying that three serious buyout offers are on the table for the resort. A deal is, according to KTVB-TV, "imminent."
