Balsams Update - Go Big or Go home

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It does seem to have some Pythonesque aspects at this point. Its starting to resemble a Norwegian Blue with Les acting as the shopkeeper. ;) For the locals sake lets hope its just part of the tangled history of a future project.
 
The governor signed the TIF bill so its in the developers hands again. Coos County now has to approve the package but two out of three Coos county commissioners are supporters of the project.

Northern Pass just had their day in court and it could be six months before the court rules so the initial phase of the development will need to obtain financing without a NP backstop. Given its May, I do not see where there will be an significant construction effort this summer or fall so the NP timing may line up with a 2020 groundbreaking.
 
Otten is spinning it, perhaps sincerely, to look more like a financing syndication that was planned all along, as opposed to a true sale. But as is common these days the byline is not particularly accurate. That said, it does look like a bit of a Hail Mary at this point.
 
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The Tillotson estate was under great pressure to sell and after a couple of failed attempts they were under pressure to close the estate. Once the estate sold the development rights to SPNHF to block NP the estate had to dump the property to what ever buyer was willing to sign a check. Someone involved with the process commented to me that their initial hopes were to sell it to some entity that could reopen it but as the years dragged on they had no choice but to sell at whatever price they could. The partners that bought the facility from the estate, Dan Hebert and Dan Dagesse reportedly broke even and made some bucks by stripping the timber off the property and selling whatever wasn't bolted down (and even some stuff that was). They also were the ones that inadvertently ruined the chance to get historic tax credits by tearing "historic buildings" down before they filled out the proper paperwork thus making the project less valuable to developers. Dan Dagesse sold out in 2017 https://www.nhbr.com/why-dan-dagesse-sold-his-half-of-the-balsams-to-les-otten/. He was the one with deep pockets and bought out the Boch group dealers in Mass a few years ago. Dan Hebert is a local contractor that will do the construction if it ever occurs, he doesn't have deep pockets.

I was at the Coos County planning board meeting last week and a minor agenda item was reviewing a list of open permits and commitments that the developers have not completed. It is quite a long list. One of the big issues is the proposed ski area expansion is dependent on the county changing the acceptable setback from the nearby wind turbines. This setback was set generously when the wind farm was permitted as there was nothing there but unless its changed, a big piece of the proposed expansion is not allowed. The set back is for ice throw from the turbine blades, some folks who work and ride near the turbines have commented that on occasion large car sized chunks are thrown long distances. The impact can be minimized but it may curtail operation of the turbines which is lost revenue to the owners. I expect that Brookfield the owner and the Balsams must have talked but to date no resolution.

Thus its not a clean ready to go sale. In theory the new entity will need new permits although I don't expect the result will change before the planning board for already issued permits. Given that Jay and Burke are actively for sale as two complete resorts by a willing seller (US government receiver) with far better highway access, the latest Saddleback Mountain deal seemingly on hold since the prior potential buyer got busted for financial fraud, and the Haystack/Hermitage Club in VT Chapter 11, there does appear to be lot of options out there for someone interested in buying a ski resort. The selling point of the Balsams has always been it is a real estate play that happens to have future 4 season resort on land fully controlled by the developer. Therefore the developer can make money on all aspects of the resort and support businesses. I am not sure the other ski areas for sale are set up for this except Saddleback which is decidedly even more remote. Of course the sales price is most likely highly negotiable as the NP cash for the upfront work probably covered some portion of the expenses and Dan Hebert's share was basically free.

As usual a tough reality for those in the North County expecting a job anytime soon.
 
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I think you are off one buyer in the Saddleback cast of characters

peakbagger said:
the latest Saddleback Mountain deal seemingly on hold since the prior potential buyer got busted for financial fraud, .
Click to expand...

Unless I am mistaken, the latest potential buyers are still in the running (and not from behind bars).

March 18, 2019
Boston firm renews offer to buy Saddleback

Saddleback Mountain in Rangeley, closed since 2015, may have a buyer — one who previously planned to buy the resort but backed off last year.

Arctaris Impact Fund, of Boston, has renewed its offer to the Berry family to buy the resort, the Portland Press Herald reported Saturday.

The Berrys have owned the resort since 2003 and closed it in 2015.

The Boston investment firm last year planned to buy the resort, but had a setback in June, when the area wasn’t included in Gov. Paul LePage’s 32 designated Opportunity Zones.

More: https://www.mainebiz.biz/article/boston-firm-renews-offer-to-buy-saddleback
 
I had looked up the status and the Boston groups offer as the last info I could find was that article you posted the link to. Given the timing to reopen my assumption was the current owners would have commented about the likelihood of a sale. Given its been 3 month with no media reports my assumption was it was stalled.
 
VTDigger's talking about $80-100 M. for Jay.

Compared to The Balsams this looks like a nearly turn-key opportunity and a steal!

Now, if I could just figure out where I left that $100 mil...
 
I had heard third hand from someone more familiar with Saddleback is the offering price on the table from the Boston group is less than the current owners have into the place. The Australian investor offered the world but he turned into a crook.

Jay was using Bill Stenger, one of the co-conspators as a consultant up until Bill was arrested. The receiver has said in the past that he was willing to wait a bit until they had a good winter under their belts to sell. Given last winter I dont think they are going to find a better winter. Burke on the other hand apparently has been struggling and the receiver indicated it may take more time to sell.
 
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"Moving" to D.N. for the purpose of declaring it his residence for casting his vote. I suspect he probably won't be spending any more time there than he already does. Having D.N. keep it's mythic status as the first place to release its vote is probably too valuable a marketing tool to let slip.
 
Les did an interview that the redevelopment is progressing with a long list of folks with deposits just ready and waiting for their unit and that is why he is moving up there to concentrate more of his time at the site. His current residence is not that far away down RT 26. Given the state tax differences between Maine and NH maybe he is becoming a tax refugee;).

FYI a recent Coos County planning board meeting reviewed the outstanding issues with respect to permitting the redevelopment project. They reported a long list of items with no progress.
 
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