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Intrawest sells Village at Squaw Valley

Second resort asset sold in less than a week

 

With an Olympics-time auction fast approaching, Intrawest continues to sell off its assets.

Squaw Valley USA, which runs a resort on the north shore of Lake Tahoe in California, announced in a Jan. 29 news release that it had acquired The Village at Squaw Valley, a four-season mountain resort village from the Vancouver-based ski resort company.

"We at Squaw Valley USA are very pleased to integrate the Village at Squaw Valley with our own operations," Nancy Cushing, company Chairman and CEO, said in the statement. "It is a reversal of philosophy as Squaw Valley Ski Corp. has not operated a lodging property for 30 years."

Up until now, Intrawest was developing the village property attached to the resort, which served as the venue for the 1960 Winter Olympic Games. The resort opened in 1949, running a 50-room lodge that was used during the Olympics. The resort continued to grow but the lodge property ceased to operate in 1979.

In 2002 Intrawest began developing a European-style ski village near the resort that helped to develop an off-hill experience for skiers and snowboarders. The Village at Squaw Valley has a pedestrian village, not unlike Whistler's, as well as commercial and residential properties that are all being turned over to the resort.

There are an estimated 300 one-, two- and three-bedroom condominium suites, some of which are located right next to the ski area.

The deal includes lodging operations at two condo-hotels, as well as six restaurants, 20 retail shops and a full service spa. Squaw Valley USA will oversee all day-to-day operations in the village, according to the news release, as well as its current ownership of on-mountain operations.

The release goes on to say that it's business as usual for all resort guests despite the sale.

The sale comes as Intrawest awaits a Feb. 19 auction by creditors of Fortress, Intrawest's parent company that has missed a $524 million debt payment.

An auction could be averted in Intrawest files for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, which would allow it to reorganize and continue to operate.