Industry News
Jay Peak and Burke Mountain are ready for the market. After being surrendered by Ponzi-scheme perpetrator and previous owner Ariel Quiros, both resorts have recovered and plan to hit the market this year. According to VTDigger, the court appointed receiver, Michael Goldberg, has been making large improvements to the resorts. After years of major development projects, the resort has transformed from a financial mess to a functioning company.
The Stateside condo complex was completed, a faulty tram was repaired, vendors have been repaid an outstanding $5 million and another $5 million debt to contractors has been settled. Goldberg has also made investments in snowmaking, landscaping, soccer and lacrosse fields and a new theater at Jay Peak. He also installed a new lift and snowmaking equipment at Burke.
Now that this fixer upper is ready for sale, who will snatch it up? Vail and Alterra continue to expand their empires and will likely make an offer. Jay Peak and Burke Mountain are two of New England’s best resorts and will likely sell before the 18-19 season. While the asking price is unknown, Goldberg expects the sale to go well.
“It will be a well attended sales process with a lot of rich people and entities — it will go for the highest possible price.” – Michael Goldberg
Vail is busy scooping up more resorts with their recent purchase of Okeme, Crested Butte, Mount Sunapee and Stevens Pass. Stevens Pass was their first purchase in the PNW market. With a good grip on the eastern market already, Vail seems to be focused on buying elsewhere. However, Vail always seems to have spending money, so don’t count them out just yet.
Alterra is behind Vail on the Eastern front, so Jay Peak and Burke Mountain could be the perfect purchase. Jay Peak’s rugged terrain and decent snowfall matches Alterra’s pre-existing portfolio, making them a smart match.
The sale is open to all buyers, not just resort groups. It will be interesting to see who picks up Jay Peak and Burke Mountain. Will Vail and Alterra get into a bidding war? Will Goldberg’s hard work be rewarded? Who will rule the Vermont region? We will find out by next season.
I’ve skied Jay Peak many times and from a terrain standpoint, I find it superior in some ways to even Whistler. Of course it doesn’t have the size of the giant resorts, but just about every inch of the mountain is reachable if you know where to go. The terrain itself is fantastic. Just one kind of silly problem. After all the resort upgrades, they still haven’t replaced the lifts with high speed ones. And maybe I’m just spoiled, but I can’t go low speed anymore. I Just can’t… do it.