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Panorama Mountain Village near Invermere has been sold to a group of entrepreneurs, led by a Cranbrook-based builder who also has projects in Fernie.
Intrawest and a newly formed company, Panorama Mountain Village Inc. (Panorama Inc.) announced January 28, 2010 that they have entered into a definitive asset purchase agreement that will enable Panorama Inc. to purchase Intrawest's interests in the ski hill.
The transaction will include the resort's on-mountain and Nordic ski operations, a 50 per cent ownership position in the Greywolf Golf Course, all of Intrawest's commercial operations and lodging units in the village and the land available for real estate development. The transaction is anticipated to close in February 2010 pending regulatory approvals.
The principal investor in Panorama Mountain Village Inc. is Rick Jensen of the Cranbrook company New Dawn Developments, who built Thunder Ridge townhouses at Fernie Alpine Resort and is currently working on the Silver Ridge development in Ridgemont.
Jensen, who owns a home at Panorama, joins with a group of Panorama property owners to make the purchase. He will be the largest shareholder among a group with a variety of levels of investment, he says.
The deal has been in the works for several months, Jensen said.
“In September I started talking to other home owners on the mountain,” he said. “People who share my love of the mountain. We put together a group that had the financial resources to make this happen. We arrived at a price that was fair to both sides and we hope to see the deal go through next week.”
It will be business as usual for the ski hill this winter, with all bookings and deals honoured. The same management team will stay in place, one of the real strengths of the deal, he said.
“The big difference between us and Intrawest is that we can focus all our attention on Panorama.”
Jensen says Panorama was on the market a couple of years ago, and there was even a deal put together with another entity to purchase it, but it fell through.
“I knew there was an appetite for sale and we were able to make a deal,” he said.
With the current management team continuing, Jensen says his ownership group will focus primarily on real estate development, with some new projects beginning as early as this spring.
“Panorama is only 50 per cent built out. Intrawest didn't over build so values have remained strong.”
He believes that the recreational real estate development market will rebound.
“Absolutely it will rebound. I've been in the development and construction business for 35 years. There's no question it will rebound.”
And as for the opportunity to own a ski hill, Jensen says it's not that big a deal but, “I am really excited.”
