News Nugget
Touted as Utah’s ‘Yellowstone Club,’ Elk Meadows Also Goes on the Auction Block
By Courtney Lowery, 11-12-09
Once hailed as the Utah version of the posh Yellowstone Club, the Elk Meadows development near Beaver has followed a similar fate and is now on the auction block.
As the Salt Lake Tribune reported earlier this week, the development near Beaver, which was supposed to have all the amenities of the high-end resort market of earlier this decade: Jack Nicklaus golf course, private ski runs and extravagant second homes, was once worth $3.5 billion, but is now in an online auction with a suggested value of $5.15 million. But, the starting bid is $1 million. As Jodi Peterson notes on the High Country News Goat blog, (HCN, by the way, did a good story on the resort in 2008, which you can read here) in May, the Yellowstone Club was sold for $115 million.
The original developers, the Mount Holly Partners, filed for bankruptcy this summer, but in the face of objections from one of the resort’s investors, MHU Holdings of New York City, the bankruptcy was rejected and Mount Holly turned the property over in foreclosure proceedings.
It’s just the latest of many similar stories playing out across the region (see one about a Montana resort here) where the resort market has given way to a bankruptcy market and now, a foreclosure market. At least the real estate law market is booming.
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Regarding the second paragraph above, I'm sure you meant to write that The Yellowstone Club sold in May for $115 million, not Elk Meadows. Elk Meadows, as you note, is still on the auction block. Thanks for the mention of my blog post on Elk Meadows/Mt. Holly Club.
Comment By Courtney Lowery, 11-12-09Jodi, thanks for the catch. And, thanks for mentioning us in your blog post!
Comment By Dave Skinner, 11-13-09It goes to show how these resorts were based on throwaway money that didn't really exist. Let's not forget Roger Lang's grandiose plans for a government subsidized (through conservation easements) series of uber-trophy "green" enclaves for the snoot set.
Now we are seeing what these things are really worth in a reality-based world.
Doubt any of the hit on the wealthy will deter them from lobbying against health care bill; after all they have their boutique doctors!
Comment By Kirk, 12-24-09Good to see this group go. I had the pleasure to ski tour around this area for the past 4 winters. We had one occasion that we were asked to stop skiing the closed resort by goons with tazers. I hope something positive happens with the area in the near future.
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