High Rollers Close In On Schweitzer Ski Resort May Be Weeks Away From Sale With 2 Offers On Table
With two offers already on the table and at least one more waiting in the wings, it appears Schweitzer Mountain Resort is just weeks away from having a new owner.
High rollers in real estate development and the ski business are looking to snap up the financially ailing ski hill, which has been owned and operated by Sandpoint’s Jim Brown family since 1963. The asking price has not been disclosed, but reportedly exceeds Schweitzer’s debt of $27 million.
“We have a couple of proposals and are optimistic that in three weeks we may have an initial agreement for (selling) the resort,” said Sandpoint attorney Ford Elsaesser, who serves as the receiver for the cashstrapped ski hill.
“The next step wouldn’t be a closing, but more like an earnest money agreement,” he said. “We know the ones that have looked are financially qualified.”
The Brown family and U.S. Bank agreed in November that Elsaesser, as receiver, would shepherd a deal to get the resort out of $27 million in debt. That could include selling the ski resort, Green Gables Lodge and some of the development land around the ski area.
Sources say the players vying for Schweitzer are Spokane’s Goodale & Barbieri Cos., Harbor Properties Inc., which is headed by Seattle real estate magnate Stimson Bullitt, and Telluride Ski and Golf Co., which runs the Telluride ski resort in Colorado. Elsaesser said he’s met with all three.
Telluride officials confirmed Thursday from Colorado that they have made an offer for the ski resort. The company owns a California ski resort as well as golf properties around Telluride, said Mike Shimkonis, spokesman for the resort.
Harbor Properties operates the Stevens Pass ski area in the Washington Cascades. Company officials were in Sandpoint touring Schweitzer Mountain Resort and could not be reached Thursday for comment.
Goodale & Barbieri has made a written offer for the resort, according to two sources familiar with the negotiations. Elsaesser said he could not deny the company has submitted an offer and declined to identify which companies have proposals on the table.
Attempts to reach President Don Barbieri weren’t successful Thursday.
The potential buyers have varied backgrounds and only one has connections to Bonner County.
Goodale & Barbieri owns real estate in downtown Spokane and a chain of hotels that runs from Kalispell, Mont., to Seattle. Don Barbieri also owns property at Schweitzer and is developing an upscale and controversial Huckleberry Bay subdivision at nearby Priest Lake.
Environmentalists unsuccessfully fought that subdivision, saying it would pollute one of Idaho’s most pristine bodies of water. The opposition did convince the company to pull plans for a golf course near the lake. Schweitzer long has talked about building a golf course on the mountain but hasn’t been able to make it happen.
Schweitzer employees and Sandpoint restaurant, hotel and other business owners are anticipating new owners will revive the ski hill and boost winter tourism.
One businessman who is privy to details of the pending sale and did not want his name used said a new owner will ensure that the resort remains open, will stimulate development on the mountain and will keep tourists coming to Sandpoint.
“The Brown family has had a great asset here and has done a great job with it,” Gordon Zimmerman, Schweitzer’s chief financial officer, said earlier this week. “But it’s time for another group to come in with some expertise and capital and take the resort to the next level.”
Bullitt and Harbor Properties have major real estate holdings in downtown Seattle. Bullitt also is a member of the Bullitt Foundation, which gives large sums of money for the protection and restoration of the environment in the Pacific Northwest.
“Stimson Bullitt is known as a quality manager who doesn’t run things shoddily,” said O. Casey Corr, a Seattle Times newspaper reporter who recently wrote a book about the Bullitt family.
Although Schweitzer officials expect a sale this ski season, there is no rush to close the deal. U.S. Bank, owed the bulk of the resort’s $27 million debt, has been very patient.
“There is not a sense of urgency on behalf of the bank to force a sale,” Zimmerman said. “Right now, we are trying to find the right mix and chemistry among the interested parties, the resort and the community.”
Ideally, a new owner will keep the Brown family as a partner so they don’t lose the 33-year family tradition at the resort, Zimmerman said.
The resort filed for receivership in October after several mediocre ski seasons and the failure to draw commercial development to the resort.
Through Pack River Management, the family owns the 2,350-acre resort plus 3,400 acres of adjoining land.
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