Vail Buys Park City Ski Resort

It's Official. Vail has bought Park City Ski Resort from Powder Corp.

Its been a turbulent couple of years with the height of uncertainty and litigation reaching boiling points very recently. Last week we all held our breath as the courts decided it would take a $17.5 million bond posted by Powder Corp. to remain on the disputed resort property and stay open for the upcoming 2014/2015 ski season. Vail had asked for roughly $123 million and Powder Corp asked for the bond to be between $1 and $6 million. Early this week we received news that Powder Corp has decide to post the bond, which meant Park City Mountain Resort would in fact be open this year, and would need to again post another $19 million bond if they decided to also be open for the next year.

We had heard through the grapevine, a rumor that a deal had been struck for Powder to actually sell to Vail, and today that rumor was verified to be true. It was announced through a press release by John Cummings that effective immediately Powder Corp. has sold the entire resort to Vail Resorts, for roughly $182 million. That means the base area, lifts, lodges, equipment, water rights, everything. The one point made was that Vail must retain all current PCMR employees which was a great move by Cummings.

Here in Park City we have been quite stressed on the outcome of these events. The bond hearing and results to pay the bond were only a partial and temporary solution. Now that the sale has been finalized, we can look forward to the creation of a mega-resort or two combined, and cooperating resorts. The two resorts nearly touch one another now, and it is exciting that Canyons Ski Resort and Park City Ski Resort will share the same "epic" pass with future ski ability from one resort to the next. Vail has just confirmed in their full press release that PCMR will now be included in their EPIC pass for this ski year and plans are underway to provide a skiable connection for the following year. This joint resort ownership might also make the One Wasatch plan closer to reality.

For our real estate market, this is great news. Especially for the in town locations such as Park Meadows, the Aerie and especially Old Town. Old Town is defined by its walkability to both Main Street and PCMR. With the uncertainty of the resort's future, we had noticed a slight impact of sales. Now, Old Town will surely be one of the hottest location for real estate in the greater Park City area.

More news from the actual Vail Press Release:

• Acquisition settles all litigation and ensures no disruption to future resort operations
• Park City Mountain Resort will be added to the Epic Pass for the 2014-2015 ski season
• Company intends to connect PCMR and Canyons for the 2015-2016 ski season to create the largest single ski resort in the United States with 7,000 skiable acres, subject to regulatory approvals