 |
 |
On Mon, 17 May 2004 14:49:59 -0600, Henry, Chris <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >Not that I really care too much, living 2000 miles away now, but I took >my first lesson at K, so there's a slight sentimental attachment to the >please. So I'm just sort of wondering what this means for the Beast of >the East and a Texas company is interested in acquiring all this land >around the mountain. Do they eventually hope to aquire the whole >shebang? Why else would they take on such a high interest rate loan? Or >perhaps they're betting on being able to develop or sell the land after >ASC is forced to sell K to Vail Resorts or another buyer? Just >wondering. A few thoughts... 1) The Texas company will probably not end up paying any of the high interest payments that ASC was obligated to. It is simply assuming that debt in lieu of a payment to ASC and will in all likelihood pay it off immediately. 2) My guess is that the Texans have no interest in buying the ski area - there is FAR more money to be made in real estate. They wil move forward with some semblance of the Killington Village concept and everyone comes out a winner - they get their return from the real estate while Killington Resort gets the benefit of a vibrant village springing up at its base and the Town of Killington increases its tax haul. 3) What will be interesting to see is how this company navigates the delicate Act 250 and overall environmental review process. It would stand to reason that they don't have much experience in the Northeast with these issues. 4) If they can figure out how to get things approved, this could be a home run for the Texan group. ASC is, to say the least, a distressed seller, and they sold on the cheap to get immediate debt relief. Even assuming that ASC holds on to Killington, these guys could make a lot of hay due to the 1 million annual skier days K pulls down - that's a nice sized captive audience from which to draw buyers of condos and such. This deal probably increases the chances that ASC DOESN'T sell K b/c the upside on the real estate development is/was the big attraction. Who wants a big eastern ski area with lousy/ageing infrastructure, declinging skier visits, and no developable land (or only a 25% slice in that land)? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - SkiVt-L is brought to you by the University of Vermont. To unsubscribe, visit http://list.uvm.edu/archives/skivt-l.html