The Yellowstone Club in Montana, Tamarack Resort in Idaho, and Promontory in Utah are bankrupt or on the way.
Should we weep?
Luxury Real Estate. Credit Suisse’s Troubled Rocky Mountain Empire. By Jonathan Weber. New West.
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Ralph Maughan
Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University with specialties in natural resource politics, public opinion, interest groups, political parties, voting and elections. Aside from academic publications, he is author or co-author of three hiking/backpacking guides, and he is past President of the Western Watersheds Project.
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I told you so. Tamarack was a bad idea and it won’t be long until Idaho Tax payers will get screwed by them.
The real key with this lull in Rocky Mountain luxury building is for conservation organizations and the federal agencies to step up to the plate and buy some of the nicer pieces (not of YC or Tamarack, I mean) of private land before the subdivision craze ramps up again.
Several years ago, Ed Marston wrote some good (albeit grim) stories on possible futures for the mega-Mansions that dot our hillsides. With energy prices the way they are and the possible beginnings of a shift away from huge, expensive to maintain homes in the woods, we may see his vision come to pass in 30 years.
I did a lot of custom carving in 2 homes in Tamarack. I used to argue with the builder about wolves. I’m glad I got paid before it crumbled.
I’ve wondered the same thing about these big homes and smaller ones too, in remote areas subject to cold temperatures and wind.
Catbestland,
Read this: Ex-Tamarack vice president suing resort for severance pay. Idaho Statesman.
The thing that separates these projects from smaller developments is the upkeep and operational costs for amenities that are enjoyed by a very few people for only a few days a years, relatively speaking. There will be difficulties finding someone to step into the breach to pay for these amenities over a short period of time. This is why failures at this level could really make the lots inside the project worth next to nothing. Who’s going to pay for cleaning, landscaping, heating, security and maintenance of an 8,000 sqft house when the neighboring golf course and the ski lifts are closed? Where are the buyers going to come from? Real estate around most of the resort town west is feeling the bubble pop big time. If bankruptcy happens, there’s going to be some more pain in the local communities too – so many of the economies in these towns are invested in luxury services/building.
they remind me of new fancy golf courses,,, the builders and the first two or three sets of owner ship go bust because the first guy who built it spent way tooo much on land and consstrcution, he goes bust,, number 2 and 3 also go because they thought they got deals but were still paying way to much for the property which no real cost management due to the new ness of such large projects, memberships, etc and maintenance like the above poster stated,, usually by number 4, the new owners can stand the heat and the cost have become more known and controlllable. just takes a while for it all to get right. Valuations may go down, but it usually equallizes with the market conditions
Very interesting comments! I had tried to open the subject from time to time in the past.
It’s good to finally read some responses.