Jay Peak Conceptual Development Plan (2011-2016)

[Sick Bird Rider]

I did not count the number of steps. I trust Sick Bird Rider's number. I don't use the new lodge, but I think the upgrade is worth at least 300 steps. So 54 is a good deal. The toilet smell from the old lodge still haunts my dreams.

The 54 count has been verified by several independent auditing agencies.

My posse is acutely aware of the 54 steps because we have seasonal lockers, which are at parking lot level. If you need (or forget) something from your locker, you go back down the steps, get your item and go back up. My sister has started to store her lunch in the day lodge so she (at 70) does not have go down and up the stairs too many times. First world problem? Absolutely. But it does sort of defeat the purpose of having a locker. Another issue the locker crew has is the single bathroom on the lower level, where you also have the ski shop and ticket sellers. If you miss the old toilet smell, check this bathroom out. I think it must have to pump uphill or something. There is definitely a unique smell in there, not as bad as the old funk but still a little aromatic.

 

[dlague]

Thanks for bumping.

You can debate EB5 till you are as blue in the face as the bus in the Bullwheel Bar. What really matters is what people think about the 54 steps at Stateside Lodge...

Well, I skied there last weekend and it really didn't cross my mind until this post came along! We also never had to go up and down them either. We carried our gear to the rack and when we left we skied down. I find it to be not a big deal. Then again I take stairs in a building with perfectly fine elevators.

 

[thetrailboss]

Another Stenger project in trouble. This was to be used for the big convention center/hotel/restaurant in Downtown Newport. It's not a good sign when Pomerleau is in doubt about this thing:

http://www.newportvermontdailyexpress.com/content/pomerleau-pulls-plug-convention-center

It is just a short snippet. Hopefully there will be more.....

 

[VTKilarney]

Shoot. I was in Newport this morning. Had I seen this I would have bought a newspaper.

Applying Occam's razor, my guess is that Stenger and Quiros are circling the wagons because they are having a harder and harder time finding investors. They need to focus on fewer projects because the money just isn't there to do all of what they had originally intended.

 

[thetrailboss]

Wow, this is sounding worse and worse. Folks should watch the video.

http://www.wcax.com/story/25430753/p...project-stalls

Tony Pomerleau says that this is off because Bill Stenger doesn't have the money. This is not the first time that Bill has had a great idea and no money to do it. Any other NEKer will recall that he talked for decades about the golf course at Jay. The first time I visited Jay in 1992 they had an ad selling house lots for the golf course that was not built for almost ten years.

Pomerleau has owned the land since 1932. So he owns it free and clear and is getting revenue from leases. He is going to sign leases with his tenants for up to ten years!

From the story and what Pomerleau said, it sounds like they had entered into an option agreement and Stenger did not come up with the money in time, so it is off.

What is most troubling to me was that WCAX interviewed both guys before and after their "meeting" with Stenger saying to WCAX they still had a deal and Pomerleau saying no. Very, very troubling.

Pomerleau also is someone who would not do this so publicly; he is the father-in-law of Senator Leahy, as in the same Senator Leahy that is working with Bill Stenger on the EB-5 stuff. If Pomerleau is openly pulling the plug, then something is really, really wrong here. And I hate to tell Bill but I never go to business meetings dressed like that.

 

[dlague]

Wow, this is sounding worse and worse. Folks should watch the video.

http://www.wcax.com/story/25430753/p...project-stalls

Tony Pomerleau says that this is off because Bill Stenger doesn't have the money. This is not the first time that Bill has had a great idea and no money to do it. Any other NEKer will recall that he talked for decades about the golf course at Jay. The first time I visited Jay in 1992 they had an ad selling house lots for the golf course that was not built for almost ten years.

Pomerleau has owned the land since 1932. So he owns it free and clear and is getting revenue from leases. He is going to sign leases with his tenants for up to ten years!

From the story and what Pomerleau said, it sounds like they had entered into an option agreement and Stenger did not come up with the money in time, so it is off.

What is most troubling to me was that WCAX interviewed both guys before and after their "meeting" with Stenger saying to WCAX they still had a deal and Pomerleau saying no. Very, very troubling.

Pomerleau also is someone who would not do this so publicly; he is the father-in-law of Senator Leahy, as in the same Senator Leahy that is working with Bill Stenger on the EB-5 stuff. If Pomerleau is openly pulling the plug, then something is really, really wrong here. And I hate to tell Bill but I never go to business meetings dressed like that.

Thats too bad! The Waterfront Plaza is a dump and the Cinema there has to go as well! Unfortunately, they need Anc Bio to get going as well as other initiatives to boost business in that area! I wonder what will happen with the Renaissance Project in Newport?!

 

[thetrailboss]

Thats too bad! The Waterfront Plaza is a dump and the Cinema there has to go as well! Unfortunately, they need Anc Bio to get going as well as other initiatives to boost business in that area! I wonder what will happen with the Renaissance Project in Newport?!

Sounds like a big part of it is not going to happen....

And don't forget the Merck Window Factory not moving ahead.

 

[thetrailboss]

BFP on the issue...nothing really new other than Stenger did not have the money.

 

[from_the_NEK]

New Burlington Free Press Article today:

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/.../stenger-foreign-investment-vermont/12747335/

 

[VTKilarney]

New Burlington Free Press Article today:

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/.../stenger-foreign-investment-vermont/12747335/

As we suspected:
"It's always been competitive, now it's extremely competitive," Raymond said.

Raymond, who is leaving this week for his fourth trip to China in the past year, said Vermont also suffers from being so small. In Shanghai, a city of 20 million people, the idea of an entire state — what the Chinese think of as a province — with 620,000 people does not inspire confidence.

 

[dlague]

New Burlington Free Press Article today:

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/.../stenger-foreign-investment-vermont/12747335/

Long article, but it was interesting. Nothing too surprising. Sad to see stories like that guy (Chicago, shocking) who illegally secured 145 million when it could have gone to other legit projects. Wonder how many others are pulling that stunt.


Sent from my iPad using AlpineZone

 

[VTKilarney]

Two things caught my eye:
1) AnC Bio is 75% funded.
2) Stenger & Quiros chip in 10%.

Even though Quiros has some money, that's a LOT of money we are talking about.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Not to take a victory-lap a few years into the prediction, but it's clear the EB-5 government boondoggle is well underway:

Projects in Vermont are up against projects in major cities. In New York, EB-5 funds are being raised for a hotel going into the Freedom Tower being built at One World Trade Center, and in Las Vegas, EB-5 investors are being invited to buy into casinos, according to Raymond.

It's a loosely-enforced, cash-grab, money-run now, and the entire meaning and point of the program has been absurdly bastardized at this point.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Two things caught my eye:
1) AnC Bio is 75% funded.
2) Stenger & Quiros chip in 10%.

Even though Quiros has some money, that's a LOT of money we are talking about.

This is the riskiest part of the venture, IMO. Biotech is mostly centered in California, New Jersey, and Boston, and it's a culture as much as an industry. How they're going to get qualified applicants and researchers to move to northern VT is beyond me, unless this is really just going to be "manufacturing" and they're dressing it up for now.

 

[fbrissette]

It's a loosely-enforced, cash-grab, money-run now, and the entire meaning and point of the program has been absurdly bastardized at this point.

I generally agree with your statement, but ultimately, what's wrong with it ? After all, most countries do have investors immigration programs. As long as the quotas are reasonable it makes a lot of sense.

 

[fbrissette]

This is the riskiest part of the venture, IMO. Biotech is mostly centered in California, New Jersey, and Boston, and it's a culture as much as an industry. How they're going to get qualified applicants and researchers to move to northern VT is beyond me, unless this is really just going to be "manufacturing" and they're dressing it up for now.

As much as I love the NEK, I just don't see this in Newport. But heck, I though the Icehouse and the Aquapark were also dead-end ideas...

I sure hope they can pull it off.

 

[deadheadskier]

most countries do have investors immigration programs. .

For sure.

About ten years ago I briefly entertained the thought of moving abroad to either Australia or New Zealand. If I was a nurse or doctor, both countries would have welcomed me with open arms for an extended stay. As a hospitality worker, I needed to find a host business to commit to hiring me to secure anything more than a 90 day work Visa.

However, if I was willing to deposit $300K into one of their National Banks for a set period of time (I believe it was three years); I could have gone over and hung out as long as I liked.

 

[dlague]

Jay Peaks new out door venue! It does look a little out of place. They have not built the roof section yet but the rest is in place for their first outdoor concert series - Jeezum Crow.

 

[fbrissette]

I still don't understand why they did not extend seating in a semi-circular fashion.

 

[BenedictGomez]

I generally agree with your statement, but ultimately, what's wrong with it ? After all, most countries do have investors immigration programs. As long as the quotas are reasonable it makes a lot of sense.

You agree with my statement, but wonder why it's bad? I dont get it. At any rate, I think it's pretty awful. I also approach it from the standpoint of being completely economically fraudulent in terms of the accounting as it relates to the financial benefit to the region. Not to mention there will be unintended negative consequences that will come from this, it's just that it takes some years for them to materialize. You've already seen the first negative consequence, which was Jay Peak acquiring "QBurke".

Jay Peaks new out door venue! It does look a little out of place.

It looks a little underwhelming. Doesnt look like seating for any more than 800 from the picture. Maybe they're not done? I'm guessing they'll allow picnic seating (aka Lawn seating) as well.

I still don't understand why they did not extend seating in a semi-circular fashion.

Good question, that would have been far more logical.