New England Hermitage Club, VT, in the news.

[James]

Sad that the Haystack before all this will be gone. Was a good spot for junior races.

 

[CalG]

A Great spot for the young ones. Just ask any one of my three. (all grown up now though)

 

[LegacyGT]

... if there's an investor or group out there that honestly values the resort + bubble lift at so much more than $7.5 million, all they need to do is show up with the money.

I guess my thinking involved rolling back the clock. 2 years ago this would have been more of a possibility. If the resort could have been purchased in some sort of operational state, without the burden of all the real estate adventures pursued by prior management, I think someone would have paid quite a bit more. But that's under a scenario where someone could turn on the lights and get things up and running quickly. However, after being shuttered for 2 years and being stripped of snowmaking equipment, anyone buying the resort would need to do much more than turn on the lights. They would need to buy new snowmaking equipment, a new lift and more. And they would need to do so in an environment where lenders and potential members have every reason to be skeptical.

 

[LegacyGT]

Hermitage has two more offers

BURLINGTON — The sale of Hermitage Club assets is growing more competitive. Raymond Obuchowski, Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee, filed documents Thursday in the United States Bankruptcy Court …

www.reformer.com

Still more interested parties, including some who want the properties and lift together (which makes sense if there's intent to operate the mountain as a ski resort). Separately, there seem to be negotiations to apply restrictions on the removal of the lift which would make it impossible to do so, or at least less attractive. Clearly this is intended to reduce interest in the lift by those who would want to purchase everything as-is. Also, one interested party claims to be "royalty" which is kind of hilarious.

 

[LKLA]

"Please note, I am born royalty and as such special consideration is required."

Does he mention if he wants to rename it Mount Royal Suxxes? Something tells me this offer is not a serious offer. Just a hunch.

 

[Black Dog]

The auction was going to be held this morning at 10:AM. Anybody up that way hear anything yet?

 

[EricG]

The auction was going to be held this morning at 10:AM. Anybody up that way hear anything yet?

the members bought it.

 

[Black Dog]

Chair and everything I hope?

 

[EricG]

Chair and everything I hope?

That is my understanding. the full information should be available very soon.

 

[Black Dog]

That probably was the best outcome. Hopefully they got it a a price where they can put things back together.

 

[Dee]

Approximately $8m is my understanding.

 

[Dee]

Member group wins Hermitage with $8M bid

WILMINGTON — A group of former Hermitage Club members made the highest bid in an auction for properties at an exclusive private ski area that was developed at and around

www.reformer.com

 

[Black Dog]

Looks like 150 of the owners got together and bough it. What does that work out to be 54,000 per person?
Just curious what does a Dopplemyar HS 6 pack bubble cost new?

 

[LegacyGT]

There was limited speculation that Vail (Mt Snow) might be interested...at least in the lift. I imagine that with the virus uncertainty, they are out of the acquisition game for the time being.
It is best for the region that this sale went through with the property intact, rather than sold off in pieces. This increases the chances that the resort opens in one form or another. The members will almost certainly sell off the ancillary hotel/motel properties which only made sense as part of prior management's delusional plans and whims. It will be interesting to see how this is run going forward. Are the 150 member/owners looking for new members? And will they all be required to buy in at comparable levels? Whatever the case, this ownership structure will be less likely to engage in ponzi scheme type real estate deals to keep the lights on. The question is, whether they can keep the lights on without doing those things.

 

[Dee]

Anyone have any updates about what’s been going on with the new owner group since the auction concluded? I imagine the pandemic has had an impact but I’m surprised to see no further postings in this thread over the last three months.

 

[LiquidFeet]

@Dee, you might check into the Nelsap forum thread on Hermitage. They might have noticed something. This last bit of new information in that thread was posted on May 21:

DrJeff: The fact that as of Saturday, 9 holes of the Hermitage Golf Club are reopening for the 1st time since the 2018 golf season to VT residents and Hermitage Club members who reside in VT, is a solid sign of the new ownerships dedication to getting things going again.

And ironically enough, with the company wide furlough that Vail Resorts still has over most of it's employees, the Mount Snow Golf Club won't be open for play this weekend (although they are maintaining the turf, and from friends who usually work at the Mount Snow course, when the combo of the Gov of VT reopens the state without the 14 day quarrantine for those coming into the state, and Vail Resorts switches into Summer Ops mode, likely in a few weeks, it will be ready to go

Hermitage

Judge to make call on lift maintenance at Hermitage Club Posted Thursday, October 25, 2018 7:42 pm By Chris Mays, Brattleboro Reformer NEWFANE — For now, the extent of lift maintenance starting up at the Hermitage Club's foreclosed private ski resort depends on Judge Robert Gerety.

www.snowjournal.com