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Nita Lake Lodge owners hopeful for train station future

Minority owners pushing new management to sign deal with Rocky Mountaineer

The idea looked good on paper:

The Whistler Mountaineer scenic train would bring tourists from Vancouver to Whistler, where they would disembark at the new train station attached to the Nita Lake Lodge. Some of those visitors would partake in the hotel's amenities, and others would bring their luggage and stay in the lodge for a few days before taking the train back to Vancouver.

So far the only part of the idea that has worked is the train part, with the Whistler Mountaineer - a division of Rocky Mountaineer - bringing over 50,000 visitors a year to Whistler. However, instead of using the train station the visitors have been disembarking on a concrete pad just south of the lodge, which they walk past on their way to buses that bring them to Whistler Village. Some of those guests do stay in the resort as part of a travel package, but not many stay at Nita Lake.

According to a representative of the minority shareholders in the lodge, the previous majority owners - and there have been two of them since the lodge opened in January 2008 - were unable to sign an agreement with Rocky Mountaineer to use the train station as intended.

While unfortunate, the minority owners in the boutique hotel also maintain that the building is in violation of a covenant with the municipality that the train station was to be in operation as a condition for the hotel portion of the lodge receiving its occupancy permits. They have lobbied the local government to enforce the covenant and the previous majority owners to honour the agreement.

Now, with the sale of the lodge to Tumuluri Asset Management Inc. last week, the owners and Rocky Mountaineer are confident that an agreement can be reached.

"We're still in discussions and are very hopeful we'll be able to reach an agreement to use the Nita Lake station for this upcoming season," said Ian Robertson, executive director at Rocky Mountaineer.

"There have been a number of factors in place (to prevent the deal) and not just the cost. But certainly we are working towards negotiating a solution and we're hopeful that an agreement can be reached soon. At the end of the day it's about providing guests travelling on trains and guests of Whistler the very best experience that we can. Obviously, to be able to come into Nita Lake Lodge is important to us."

The Whistler Mountaineer resumes operations on May 14, giving the new owner and Rocky Mountaineer less than two months to reach an agreement. Ram Tumulari said last week he has a relationship with Rocky Mountaineer and will be working with them to bring the Whistler Mountaineer to Nita Lake Lodge.

Peter Kosick represents a group of minority shareholders in the lodge. He is optimistic that the new owners will have the station open. He owns two units in the hotel, his wife owns two units, his son owns two units and one of his son's friends owns two units. As well, Kosick represents several off-shore owners from the U.S., U.K., Hong Kong, Singapore and elsewhere.

"We have talked to Rocky Mountaineer and they were saying (the previous owners) were asking for a horrendous and unreasonable fee to use the railway station," he said. "We talked to the municipality, which had a responsibility to enforce the covenant back in 2007... but they somehow skirted that and the hotel opened. Nobody ever pressed (the former owners) to open the station.

"In the meantime the minority owners, which includes us, have suffered a significant loss of revenue as Rocky Mountaineer has delivered those 50,000-plus passengers during the summer and we have not seen the benefit."

The covenant itself states that if the operator and owners were unable to come to an agreement, the municipality "shall not at any time after August 1, 2006 use or permit to be used any building or structure constructed on the Lands for any purpose, including for occupancy, unless this condition is satisfied."

The RMOW allowed occupancy without that agreement in place. Kosick was concerned that Nita Lake Lodge's former owners were going to ask for changes to the covenant in the future - similar to last year's decision to let the owners off the hook for building an employee housing project in exchange for a return of those lands and over $900,000 for the Whistler Housing Authority to build future projects.

Two weeks ago the Resort Municipality of Whistler said they had not received any applications from the former owners to alter the covenant, and had not taken any steps to enforce it after August 1, 2006. Under the covenant the municipality has the power to force the train operator and station owner to resolve the issue through arbitration, but instead they chose to monitor the situation.

Kosick is encouraged by the purchase of the hotel by Tumuluri Asset Management and the personal involvement of Ram Tamuluri, who has numerous business degrees and a background in hotel management. He is the current owner of the Cable Cove Inn and Spa in Tofino and Ayucare International in India, Canada and South Africa.

As well, Jamal Hotel Holdings is a partner in Tumuluri Asset Management, which owns and operates four hotels across the province as well as Retirement Concepts seniors residences across B.C.

The majority ownership stake in the hotel includes 51 of the 77 rooms and all of the public spaces, including the restaurants and train station.

While it's been a rocky road so far, Kosick believes that the property will at last be managed to its potential.

"Here's what we were promised: an onsite suite or selling suite, and that never happened. We were promised marketing, and it never happened. We were promised the best chef in Whistler and that never happened. It went on and on and then the train station didn't happen. There was just a whole litany of things that were committed to us that weren't implemented," said Kosick.

However, he says the location on Nita Lake is still attractive and he believes that it is one of the best-built properties in Whistler.

"I'm very buoyed by the fact that this new investor sees the potential and has the smarts to take advantage of what is there, and run it like the boutique hotel is was always meant to be."