Posted on 06/21/2009 10:28:04 PM PDT by Lorianne
Edra Denise Blixseth, age 55, is tiny, barely 5 feet 3, but she is at the center of a huge financial mess. According to personal bankruptcy papers her lawyer filed in March, she owes $500 million to $1 billion and has assets of barely half that, almost none of them liquid. Earlier this month, the court approved the sale of one of her most prized possessions - the private ski resort in Big Sky, Mont., known as the Yellowstone Club - to the private-equity firm of one of its members for $115 million. Just a year ago, that same buyer, CrossHarbor Capital Partners, had been willing to pay $400 million for the club.
The Yellowstone Club, a 13,600-acre playground 20 miles north of Yellowstone National Park, may be the world's lone members-only ski resort. Its pristine natural beauty and remote location have attracted wealthy skiers who prize their privacy, including Bill Gates of Microsoft; Barry Sternlicht, the hotelier; and Peter Chernin, president of the News Corp.
In one of the signature, fin de siecle moments of our passing Gilded Age, the Yellowstone Club filed for Chapter 11 protection last November; four months later, Blixseth followed suit - a club and its doyenne, sucked into a financial downdraft that has wounded even once-untouchable elites.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Aren't these people Enviro-nuts? I don't mind people having money, I just
mind when they want to be the only ones with money by supporting socialism.
As much as I appreciate and encourage capitalism, Heinlein said it best: “People who go broke in a big way never miss any meals. It is the poor jerk who is shy a half slug who must tighten his belt.”
After making their millions....it seems to be way to keep the plebs from making theirs...
I can wait.
Dang! This is the first time I’ve heard of this!
Where shall I ski now?
What about the 4 acre house I was building there?
I’m afraid you’ll have to sell some horses and let some of the staff go. Sorry.
“First homes prices dropped and now commercial real estate is dropping.”
I am a RE broker in Orange County, CA and the growing number of vacancies in commercial properties is visible for all to see.
Big auto dealerships closed permanently. Storefronts newly for lease, in centers that were full a few years ago.
Landlords have reduced asking base rent rates, but I don’t foresee many new businesses jumping into this economy, so the vancancies will sit, and sit.
Unable to make mortgage payments, due to rising vacancies, the owners will ask for loan term help, but eventually might not be able to hold on, even with adjustments.
The lenders holding these mortgages will run into banking reserve issues, soon I expect. Then they will be petitioning the government for your money and mine.
But,but,I already had to let go of 13 out of my 43 staff!
How will I survive?
That is how rich socialist stay in power the buy their way!!!!
There is an old saying you are who you vote for!!!!!
Isn’t this the resort that the California abortion clinic chain owner’s family was flying to when their plane went down this past winter ?
Really wealthy people have a ski slope in doors and a lake too for the summer season.
Only four acres? That’s the servants quarters.
Can’t speak for neo-gilded-age ski resorts such as this, but I do know that some beachfront condos in Carolina oceanfront resorts that rented for $1,500.00 a week last year, are renting for $500.00 a week this year.
Opened in late 1973, Big Sky has grown over the last 35 years. Big Sky Resort also offers meeting space for conferences, weddings and corporate retreats. Other offerings include golf, hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, whitewater rafting, and tennis. In addition, the resort is only 16 miles (26 km) from the world-renowned Yellowstone National Park.
The resort was the vision of NBC News anchorman Chet Huntley, a Montana native. Big Sky opened in December 1973 with a main base area at an elevation of 7510 feet (2290 m) on the eastern face of Lone Mountain, the sixty-seventh highest mountain in Montana, and the seventh-highest mountain in the state outside of the Beartooth Range (11,166 feet, 3403 m). After its third season, Boyne Resorts purchased the resort in 1976, following Huntley's death from cancer in March 1974 and the decision of owner Chrysler Corporation to divest its real estate development assets.
The growth off of the slopes was highlighted in 1990 with the addition of the Shoshone Condominium Hotel and the Yellowstone Conference Center, which increased summer business to the resort. In April 2000, Boyne Resorts announced that an estimated $400 million in improvements would take place over the next ten years to Mountain Village and the ski area. Later in 2000, the $54 million Summit Hotel was completed, providing four-star, ski-in ski-out accommodations. In late 2007, the $25 million Village Center Complex was opened, expanding the shopping, dining, and ski-in ski-out accommodation options.
Big Sky is primarily known for its winter activities, which include ski and snowboard terrain, a terrain park, cross country skiing, and snowshoeing, but it has become an increasingly popular summer attraction as well. Horseback riding and hiking the trails are available on the mountain, with golf and tennis available further down by the Meadow Village. Fly fishing and whitewater rafting are popular on the Gallatin River. Lake kayaking is available at Hebgen Lake 50 miles (80 km) south. Big Sky is a convenient and comfortable base camp for excursions into the nearby Yellowstone National Park, only 16 miles (26 km) away.
Yes.
I believe that Big Sky, and Yellowstone club are two different resorts. They are however, adjacent to each other.
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