Trilogy confirms purchase of Timberline After months of speculation Trilogy President John Evans confirmed last week that his company had reached an agreement with the Labourer's Pension Plan to purchase the Timberline Lodge. Trilogy plans to renovate the 42 rooms and suites in the lodge over the next four weeks, creating studio and studio-loft condominiums which will be offered for sale in June. The building has a phase two covenant on it and that will remain, and the Timberline will "continue to operate as a rental lodge property," Evans said. "Clearly today the buying public are interested in buying for investment and personal reasons," he added. "Not much is changing other than we are re-formatting the Timberline to fit today's market." Rumours continue to surround the fate of the former Buffalo Bill's night club in the basement of the Timberline. The club has been closed for the past 12 months. The restaurant in the lodge, formerly known as Myrtle's and most recently as The Timberline, has also been closed for several months. Evans said there are a number of parties interested in leasing the facilities and negotiations are ongoing. He would not say whether or not Buffalo Bill's will re-open as a live entertainment night club. "I don't think you can ever say things aren't going to be different," Evans said. "It's not crystal clear that those spaces are going to re-open in their previous form." The Timberline Lodge also includes 13 retail outlets in the Timberline Mall. Shop owners there have complained about the lack of pedestrian traffic in the mall and suggested the closed restaurant and night club are part of the problem. The sale price of the Timberline Lodge was not announced but the asking price was $7.2 million. The lodge was built for approximately $10 million in 1987. The Timberline Lodge is Trilogy's third major project in Whistler. Trilogy built Marketplace in 1993 and later sold it to an Ontario Pension Fund. Trilogy is building Market Pavilion this summer.
