News

Better than the death star

1/30/10, 8:09 am, Staff Report

Summer Squaw rumors to fruition... Village acquired by Cushings from broke Intrawest

Staff Report -

Squaw

In the winter of 2002, the popular line of thinking was that skin-in/ski-out 'skiealestate' juggernaut Intrawest would open its Village @ Squaw only to make a serious play to take over the Cushing-family owned Squaw Valley USA ski hill — perhaps the most storied, if not run-on-a-shoestring-budget resort in the West.

What a difference a half-decade makes.

Last August, rumors surfaced that the Cushing Family was pretty much taking over the Village from Intrawest ULC— the Vancouver-based ski-resort operator owned by private-equity firm Fortress Investment Group LLC, which missed a $524 million payment on a $1.4-billion loan in late December.

The Canada-based resort operator is continuing negotiations with its lenders through the Vancouver Games but is now in default.

During the halcyon days before being taken over by Fortress in 2006 for $1.8 billion (incl. assumption of more than $950 million in debt), Intrawest opened its Village at Squaw Valley (phase one) in February, 2002 and (phase two) in December, 2003.

Squaw Village was originally slated to be five phases, taking over much of the parking lot(s) you see today. The Village's first two phases have always struggled and neither retail nor restaurant nor residential have completely sold out.

In spite of this, the Cushing family now feels they have a new(ish) facility to ...run on a shoestring:

“We are very pleased to integrate the Village at Squaw Valley with our own operations," said Squaw CEO Nancy Cushing. "The acquisition of the Village represents an exciting and greatly anticipated opportunity."

Squaw Valley Ski Corp will oversee all of the day-to-day operations of The Village at Squaw Valley in addition to their current ownership of the on-mountain operations at the ski resort, Squaw Valley USA, a press release said.

All 2009-2010 winter vacation reservations will be honored, and vacation packages and homeowner information will continue to be available at http://www.thevillageatsquaw.com

Squaw Corp. did not announce whether there'd be layoffs in the Village:

“Squaw Valley USA and Intrawest are working closely together to ensure a smooth transition for stakeholders, team members and visitors to our unique mountain resort and to expand its environmental stewardship to these new facilities,” Cushing said.

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