The Forthcoming Guest Services Lodge

[BushMogulMaster]

Big article in the VR about the GSC, unfortunately the website is still on last week so I will just mention that groundbreaking will be in early summer and open December of 2007. Here is the link, today's issue should be online tomorrow. www.valleyreporter.com

Read the article this afternoon. Very enlightening....

[Tin Woodsman]

Big article in the VR about the GSC, unfortunately the website is still on last week so I will just mention that groundbreaking will be in early summer and open December of 2007. Here is the link, today's issue should be online tomorrow. www.valleyreporter.com

Here's the link:

http://www.valleyreporter.com/index....=266&Itemid=38

Here's the story:

Sugarbush gearing up for Phase II at Lincoln Peak

By Erin Post

Sugarbush officials are gearing up for the second phase of construction in the Lincoln Peak base area.

Although plans are still preliminary at this point, the Warren Development Review Board (DRB) met with Sugarbush representatives January 17 to begin discussions about a scaled-down proposal for a new guest services building in the base area as well as additional residential units.


The guest services center is to be located on the site of the current 'interim village,' situated between the recently-completed Clay Brook Lodge and beginner terrain served by the Village Double lift, said Jason Lisai, vice-president of planning and development.

The resort plans to break ground for the guest services building early this summer, in the hopes of opening it to the public by December of 2007. The residential units should be ready for occupancy by the start of the 2008-09 ski season, with construction beginning late this summer.

The guest services building is slated to house the ski school as well as ski rental and repair services. Additional residential units in the base area, up to a maximum of 39, are included in preliminary plans. The layout of these units, as well as the ownership structure, has yet to be determined, said JJ Toland, Sugarbush communications manager.

The project had received approval from the town through the permitting process for the recently completed Clay Brook Lodge. However, some modifications to the plan, including a reduced footprint for the guest services building, prompted Sugarbush officials to start a dialogue with the DRB regarding those changes.

Sugarbush representatives said they expect to go through a minor amendment process with Act 250 as well.

More detailed plans regarding the project should be coming together over the next 30 to 60 days, Lisai said this week. The cost of the new buildings has yet to be determined.

Moving into phase II of construction should allow the resort to finish up the restoration of Hotel Brook, Lisai said. The project, required by the state, is about halfway done. Sugarbush has been working with a consulting firm and Friends of the Mad River to remove culverts and restore a more "natural bottom" to the brook, creating a better habitat for aquatic and plant life.

The project also requires Sugarbush to relocate the Village lift and regrade some land near the top terminal.

The plans presented to the DRB included possible locations for additional residential buildings the resort may pursue in the future. Market feasibility studies will likely determine the size and configuration of the buildings, Lisai said, but added that Sugarbush wants the town to be aware of the possibility for additional building projects.

The goal for the resort is to help "restore the bed base to The Valley" that has been lost over the last decade or so, Toland said, as well as stay competitive with other ski resorts in the region.

Any future additional residential buildings would go through a permitting process with the town and the state.

At the January 17 meeting, some members of the DRB voiced approval for phase II preliminary plans, noting that the new layout encourages traffic to flow between the planned guest services building and the existing lodge.

"I think it's a good plan," said DRB member David Markolf. "I like the consolidation of the buildings."

Lisai spoke to the Warren DRB January 17 along with Bob Ackland, president and part owner of Sugarbush.

Sugarbush representatives plan to return to the DRB for additional meetings with more detailed plans.

My key takeaways:

1) The GSC is going in this summer and will hopefully be ready in December. Prepare for some early growing pains like we saw this year. Regardless, this is obvioiusly good news.

2) It will have a reduced footprint from previous plans. IOW, it's being scaled down. No word on the size, or reason for, the reduction. One can certainly speculate....

3) Additional residential of up to 39 units has been proposed or approved. The article is unclear as to whether this would be included in the GSB or a separate structure. Regardless, the residential component, wherever it is, is slated to come online for the 2008/2009 season. This would seem to be an indication that the pace of sales at Clay Brook is satisfactory. this is also good news, IMHO.

Discuss...

[random_ski_guy]

Well, we certainly could speculate on what scaled down means, but I'm not up for it. It could mean they are reducing the covered parking (if there was any in the original plan, dunno), could me less admin space, could mean less retail or ski school space, could mean anything. Its a bit of a surprise to take space off the table when it seems its a challenge to get said space approved. But Win has done a marvelous job thus far, so you have to figure it all fits into a sound plan that is under constant adjustment.

By my measure I see Claybrook as being about 78% sold. Announcing a timeline to build the GCS this summer certainly should aid in the sale of the remaining shares.

[Tin Woodsman]

By my measure I see Claybrook as being about 78% sold. Announcing a timeline to build the GCS this summer certainly should aid in the sale of the remaining shares.

Is that figure based on the % of 1/4 shares sold, or whole units with at least some level of sold %? If you were to consider each 1/4 share as the "units" for sale, the last time I checked it looked like they were well short of hitting 78%. More like 60-65%.

[random_ski_guy]

I took a quick count of the unsold 1/4 shares per a posting I saw in the new lodge. My quick count has 58 of 244 quarter share units still available including seven units with no shares sold. Presumably these have been purposefully set aside for those interested in whole ownership. There is no discount for whole ownership by the way.

Of course, I could be wrong...I may have been too hasty in my count of the unsold units.

Time is running out!