Big Burke announcement

[SkiRaceParent]

My take, which may be completely wrong:
1) The delay is due to primarily to a lack of funding.
2) They are working aggressively to get funding (trips to China with influential people, a trip to Vietnam, etc.)
3) They believe that they will have funding in place to commence construction this summer.

I think the USCIS issue is a red herring. The regional centers are supposed to vet the projects for USCIS compliance. There have been no issues with Vermont's regional center. If anything, they have a great track record. Jay Peak's projects have all ultimately passed the USCIS test, as far as I know.

I could be wrong about this, however, because things have indeed changed over at USCIS. They are going from 9 relatively untrained (in economics) people to 55 very well trained people to review these projects. I can understand that this may make an investor skittish to commit their funds prior to actual USCIS approval.

One way or the other, if Burke does not break ground this summer, they have now built in their excuse - the Feds. The VT Digger piece was not an investigatory piece. So the question is whether or not Stenger and Quiros put this seed out to cook an excuse, or if the USCIS is really a factor for the delay.

If you trust them and marketing at their word, if 25% of the total project funding requirement is > or = to the budget required to build the hotel, then you are incorrect. If they are either lying or that is not enough, then you are correct.

 

[VTKilarney]

Based on recent information, I now see two likelihoods:
1) They changed the ground breaking date back to June because they really are going to break ground in June.
2) They want to act as if they are completely ready but will blame a delay in June on the USCIS.

I'm inclined to believe that the more likely scenario is #1, because I can't imagine they would have such poor public relations to go with scenario #2.

If scenario #1 is correct, my gut feeling is that they didn't have the money in place until this most recent trip. If that is true, I can't imagine it will be easy to raise funds for the next phases of the project.

 

[thetrailboss]

As I've said with other Burke projects, I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[the original trailboss]

It has been more than interesting to watch the discussions about the hotel(s) since I began this thread over 18 months ago, and, despite my earlier cautions regarding the scale of the hotel(s) project - Hotel Burke - it is clear that my native/local perspective is not in the majority column. Every time I look at that location from afar and try to visualize the complex I am still amazed that it has sailed through the process and has such a large support base among the Burke community, which in my mind is clearly a non-native, used to growth and change, and beds no matter what, group (I'm sure I'll hear about that one!). The hotel(s) has been marketed and sold as single structure but in reality it is TWO Tram Haus Lodge 58-room hotels joined together by a lower roofline base lodge that will fill the appointed field and dominate the landscape for many, many miles around. And, as to construction, it is real for June, at least the groundwork. Maybe that will get some attention.................

 

[dlague]

It has been more than interesting to watch the discussions about the hotel(s) since I began this thread over 18 months ago, and, despite my earlier cautions regarding the scale of the hotel(s) project - Hotel Burke - it is clear that my native/local perspective is not in the majority column. Every time I look at that location from afar and try to visualize the complex I am still amazed that it has sailed through the process and has such a large support base among the Burke community, which in my mind is clearly a non-native, used to growth and change, and beds no matter what, group (I'm sure I'll hear about that one!). The hotel(s) has been marketed and sold as single structure but in reality it is TWO Tram Haus Lodge 58-room hotels joined together by a lower roofline base lodge that will fill the appointed field and dominate the landscape for many, many miles around. And, as to construction, it is real for June, at least the groundwork. Maybe that will get some attention.................

It will definitely will be prominent! It will be visible from Willoughby for sure!

 

[thetrailboss]

It will definitely will be prominent! It will be visible from Willoughby for sure!

But is it appropriate for the site? Will it be out of place?

 

[from_the_NEK]

It will definitely will be prominent! It will be visible from Willoughby for sure!

Technically it will only be visible from the lookouts on the south side of Mt Pisgah. You can't see the lower half of Burke Mtn from the Lake itself.

 

[dlague]

Technically it will only be visible from the lookouts on the south side of Mt Pisgah. You can't see the lower half of Burke Mtn from the Lake itself.

yup exactly!

 

[VTKilarney]

Burke's website show an opening for a marketing and events coordinator. See: http://skiburke.com/jobs

Has there been a shakeup or is this an additional position?

 

[Masskier]

[h=3]Updates to the EB-5 program in Vermont, [/h]
http://www.wcax.com/story/24936328/updates-to-the-eb-5-program-in-vermont

 

[Masskier]

Based on recent information, I now see two likelihoods:
1) They changed the ground breaking date back to June because they really are going to break ground in June.
2) They want to act as if they are completely ready but will blame a delay in June on the USCIS.

I'm inclined to believe that the more likely scenario is #1, because I can't imagine they would have such poor public relations to go with scenario #2.

If scenario #1 is correct, my gut feeling is that they didn't have the money in place until this most recent trip. If that is true, I can't imagine it will be easy to raise funds for the next phases of the project.

The only "ground breaking dates I'm aware of since last fall was " Spring 2014" then on April 7 it change to "Coming Soon" and then a couple days ago it change to "June". The progression of things over the last 30 days suggest they are moving forward and plan on breaking ground soon. I'm sure Peak CM is busy planning, organizing and preparing to mobilize. I saw the power company last week, I suspect they were installing a tap for the job trailer. A site sign is schedule to be installed next week (weather permitting). So all the signs are there that groundbreaking is soon. They would not be this far into this project if they did not have ample funds and demand. To suggest they didn't have money in place until this recent trip doesn't make sense. Any new investor that made a commitment from this recent trip, it will take them months to be approved. So those would be the funds for later stages of the project.
The only "fly in the ointment" could be the USCIS. They are months behind in their process. And they could cause Burke to delay again, however Burke expects their approval any day now.

 

[thetrailboss]

Well, 1,250 posts, but that is still half of what the legendary "Guess the Ski Area" thread comes in at now.

And in other news it was a nice powder day at Alta today.

 

[Masskier]

From Friday's Cal Record,

[FONT=Verdana, Times New Roman, Times, Serif]"A bottleneck in approving EB-5 foreign investor projects is expected to lighten up shortly, Stenger wrote in an e-mail Thursday. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which reviews and approves EB-5 projects, has 8,000 projects to review at this point, Stenger said, but he is expecting approvals in the next few weeks for both AnC Bio Vermont and the development at Q Burke Mountain in East Burke.[/FONT]"

See the whole article here; http://caledonianrecord.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=110617&SectionID=1&SubSectionID=145&S=1

 

[VTKilarney]

But didn't the state EB-5 director say in the interview with WCAX that Burke already had approval?

 

[Masskier]

But didn't the state EB-5 director say in the interview with WCAX that Burke already had approval?

Yes, Burke does have all of their state approvals.

 

[thetrailboss]

But didn't the state EB-5 director say in the interview with WCAX that Burke already had approval?

Yes, Burke does have all of their state approvals.

So regional EB-5 has said that they are good to go and national has not yet, right?


And any progress on mending things with KT? From what I've been seeing and hearing (from afar) Q seems to be going on his own with lots of things in the community. Not a good idea IMHO.

 

[halfpintvt]

So regional EB-5 has said that they are good to go and national has not yet, right?


And any progress on mending things with KT? From what I've been seeing and hearing (from afar) Q seems to be going on his own with lots of things in the community. Not a good idea IMHO.

I heard that Q Burke is going to have their own trail system and not partner with Kingdom Trails.
It would seem that Ary is a slow learner!

 

[fbrissette]

I heard that Q Burke is going to have their own trail system and not partner with Kingdom Trails.
It would seem that Ary is a slow learner!

That would be so frickin ridiculous. One beside the other in the middle of nowhere (no offense meant for the NEK). Talking about shooting yourself in the foot. They HAVE to get along. To part ways makes absolutely no sense. In the mean time, when I ride the Kingdom trails, I'll make sure I pee on QBurke side prior to turning back.

 

[dlague]

I just spoke to them and At this time the open trails that are on Burke will be available midweek with no lift serve. However, on weekends when they will be running the lifts the lift ticket will be separate. The toll road that used to be $5 per vehicle will now be $5 per bike per Q Burke. They have not posted the trail map on their site since things still appear to be up in the air but looking like the separation will be on weekends when the lift is running.

 

[thetrailboss]

I heard that Q Burke is going to have their own trail system and not partner with Kingdom Trails.
It would seem that Ary is a slow learner!

Big, big, mistake.