You guys are slipping...(Okemo sold?!?!)

[thetrailboss]

I wish! ...but not likely. The Muellers (Triple Peaks) are staying on as operators and the New England Pass is a Boyne thing. What we need is a CNL-Ski-gasm Pass.

I still want to know how the State Of NH fits in here.

+ 1. Was going to say Boyne does not equal Peaks. Different operating companies = different passes. Besides Triple Peaks passes are more expensive....

 

[thetrailboss]

And does Booth Creek still own Waterville Valley?

 

[Telemechanic]

And does Booth Creek still own Waterville Valley?

Yes. Booth Creek is down to owning WV, Cranmore, Sierra and North Star

 

[ski_resort_observer]

I could be wrong but I think BC is also the contracted operater of Loon, owned by CNL

 

[thetrailboss]

Why did I think that Boyne operated Loon, as well as Sunday River and Sugarloaf?

 

[Telemechanic]

I could be wrong but I think BC is also the contracted operater of Loon, owned by CNL

Loon is owned by CNL, operated by Boyne. Booth Creek got out of Lincoln in October 2007.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

Loon is owned by CNL, operated by Boyne. Booth Creek got out of Lincoln in October 2007.

thanks

 

[ctenidae]

How can this be for Mt. Sunapee? This is owned by the state and they lease it from state? CNL taking over the lease?

It's entirely possible that CNL is buying the assets (as opposed to the land).
Buying assets is how Powdr got Killington without the lifetime passes.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

How can this be for Mt. Sunapee? This is owned by the state and they lease it from state? CNL taking over the lease?

I think this is a pretty easy assumption since NH would not, could not sell a NH state park.

 

[dcarbs]

Yes. Booth Creek is down to owning WV, Cranmore, Sierra and North Star

I looked at CNL's website earlier and apperntly Sierra & Northstar at Tahoe are leasebacks between CNL and Booth Creek

 

[Telemechanic]

I looked at CNL's website earlier and apperntly Sierra & Northstar at Tahoe are leasebacks between CNL and Booth Creek

Man I have a hard time keeping things straight when it comes to the companies that both lease-operate and own-operate.

 

[billski]

Clarification on my post about the Okemo, Mount Sunapee and Crested Butte sale

Posted by Martin Griff December 05, 2008 2:42PM

Categories: Colorado, Mount Sunapee, Okemo

Here is a clarification from Okemo Mountain Resort spokesperson Bonnie MacPherson on my morning post about the sale.
"No need to be sad. Tim and Diane aren't going anywhere (and neither are the rest of us). This is a sale with a lease back, so nothing changes, except that we will be a stronger company as a result. Operations, revenue and expense management will continue just like always. The transition will be seamless and transparent."

Bonnie added "CNL has committed to capital expansion at all Triple Peaks resorts. At Okemo this means that the conference center and 9-hole golf course at Jackson Gore can go forward in the near future. At Crested Butte, this means the Red Lady Lodge can be built. Plans are to enhance facilities Mount Sunapee."







since I have a WSJ subscription, here is some feedback direct from CNL:

• Monty Hagler wrote:

I would like to add some additional context to this story, as the trends that some of the large, western destination resorts are seeing are not reflective of what’s happening in all parts of the ski industry this year. All of the drive-to ski resorts in CNL Lifestyle Properties' ski and mountain lifestyle portfolio are seeing season pass sales that are up over last year. The eastern resorts, in particular, had strong Thanksgiving weekends thanks to good snow conditions. Thanks to the strong season pass sales they have good momentum heading into Christmas.

The three resorts CNL Lifestyle Properties is acquiring from Triple Peaks are performing markedly better than the other resorts mentioned in this story. Their season pass sales are up over last year’s levels, and advance bookings at Crested Butte in Colorado are also up over last year.

Monty Hagler, spokesman for CNL Lifestyle Properties

 

[Telemechanic]

CNL Lifestyle Properties has now posted its own announcement: http://www.cnllifestylereit.com/pdf/pressReleases/CNL%20Triple%20Peaks%20Release%2012-5-08.pdf

 

[gymnast46]

Amplification from the Rutland Herald

Rutland Herald 12/6/08

By Bruce Edwards
Okemo Mountain Resort, one of Vermont's oldest and largest ski resorts, was sold Friday to CNL Lifestyle Properties of Orlando, Fla.

Triple Peaks owners Tim and Diane Mueller sold the Ludlow resort along with Crested Butte Mountain Resort in Colorado and Mount Sunapee Resort in New Hampshire for $132 million.

The sale was first reported in Friday's Wall Street Journal.

The Muellers will continue to manage the three resorts under a 40-year lease-back arrangement with CNL Lifestyle Properties, with Triple Peaks LLC making lease payments to CNL.

"Although we're selling the assets, we're maintaining obviously all the operations and control of the resort and signed a long-term lease," Tim Mueller said Friday in a phone interview from Florida, where he and his wife closed on the sale. "As I say, we look at it as more of a financing arrangement as much as anything since we'll still be in control of the operations."

He also said Triple Peaks retains ownership of much of the developable land around Okemo.

Mueller said the deal with CNL was the best financing option available.

"We could have continued going on the way we were going but we just thought bringing in long-term, stable capital was a better option for us," Mueller said, "particularly in this economic environment where bank financing is relatively short term, the short-term rates and the instability of the market …"

The acquisition gives the Muellers additional capital to build the Red Lady Lodge at Crested Butte and to move forward with the Okemo conference center. CNL is also expected to=2 0fund improvements at Mount Sunapee.

CNL Lifestyle spokeswoman Carolyn Gosselin said the Muellers' successful management style caught the attention of the company, making the resorts an attractive acquisition. Gosselin also said Okemo in particular is ideally located near major metropolitan areas.

"The second interest is these are affordable drive-to ski resorts that are very popular," she said. "In particular in this economy many skiers are not flying out west … but they're not going to give up their passion for snow skiing."

In the long-term, Gosselin said CNL's capital infusion will enhance Okemo and make it more of a four-season destination.

She said no changes in personnel or employment at the three resorts are anticipated.

At Ludlow's municipal offices, Town Manager Frank Heald, himself an experienced veteran of the Vermont ski industry, said the news of Okemo's sale and lease-back to the Muellers was a good sign of the area's future health.

"I think we will see very little change20as I understand it," said Heald, adding that Okemo executives started calling key people in the Ludlow community Thursday afternoon to tell them of the pending sale.

"When all is said and done, this is a refinancing transaction," said Heald. "Tim and Diane have a total and firm hand on the tiller. Their tenure here in this town, when you add everything up, has been a great thing for Ludlow."

Over at the Okemo Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce, executive director Marji Graf sent an e-mail saying that despite the sale, the Muellers were committed to Okemo.

"Tim and Diane are here to stay," she said.

Parker Riehle of the Vermont Ski Areas Association also views Friday's sale as a positive development.

"It gives Okemo the financial infusion that they need to move ahead with a lot of their strategic on-mountain projects and also other developments such as their conference center which would be a dynamic addition to their resort," said Riehle, the VSAA executive director.

Commissione r Bruce Hyde of the state Department of Tourism and Marketing said the added benefit of the deal is that the Muellers retain management control.

"The Muellers have done a great job of bringing Okemo from really a small skier-day, obscure operation to one of our leading resorts," Hyde said.

Okemo opened in January 1956. The Muellers purchased the ski area in 1982 when it had eight or nine lifts (only three double chair lifts) and 26 trails. Over the last 26 years, the couple has turned the once sleepy ski area into a major ski industry player with 19 lifts and 119 trails and glades. The resort also owns Okemo Valley Golf Club.

"We just had a philosophy of continued but steady, relatively constant growth of building up the product," Mueller said.

He also said CNL has a sound track record in owning ski resorts and golf courses. "They are very good people and we have a lot of confidence in them as well," he said.

The three Triple Peaks resorts had a combined 1.1 million skier visits during the 2007-08 ski season.

CNL Lifestyle Properties is part of CNL Financial Group, one of the nation's largest, privately held real estate investment and development companies. Headquartered in Orlando, Fla., CNL has formed or acquired companies with more than $23 billion in assets, including hotel, retail, restaurant, senior citizen housing and lifestyle properties.

CNL Lifestyle is a real estate investment trust that owns 115 properties in the United States and Canada, including 13 ski areas and eight village-centered retail developments. The portfolio includes Bretton Woods Mountain Resort and Loon Mountain Resort in New Hampshire, Sunday River and Sugarloaf/USA in Maine, Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort and Sierra-at-Tahoe Resort in California.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

This is a sale with a lease back, so nothing changes

If you want believe everything the company/resort spinmasters say, that's cool......I don't.