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To submit a news item send an email to press@mountainnews.com. The Industry Report is published by Mountain News Corp., which also publishes OnTheSnow.com Editor-In-Chief: - Craig Altschul Executive Editor: - Roger Leo President & Publisher: - Rob Brown Managing Director: - Chad Dyer Advertising Information: - sales@mountainnews.com Subscriptions:
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« Previous Story | The Industry Report Home Page | Next Story » CNL Acquires Berkshire Gem Jiminy PeakBy Craig Altschul  Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort, LLC, owned by Brian and Tyler Fairbank and Joseph O'Donnell, will continue to operate the resort under a 40-year lease with CNL. "Brian was looking for long-term stability, particularly in this current economic climate," CNL Lifestyle Properties Vice President and Managing Director Steve Rice told The Industry Report. Brian Fairbank has a long-standing reputation as an innovative, hands-on, passionate area operator. The resort, established in 1948, hosts some 350,000 skiing, snowboarding, wedding, and adventure park guests annually. Jiminy is the only North American mountain resort generating 25 percent of its total energy needs using wind power. That total includes about half the power needed to run snowmakers and chairlifts. The resort installed a $3.9 million Zephyr wind turbine in summer 2007. Roughly half of the turbine's output goes toward resort operations. "The lease agreement means Jiminy Peak's vision and philosophy will remain unchanged," Fairbank said in a prepared statement last night. "CNL Lifestyle Properties now owns the underlying assets of the resort, and our management team maintains control of the operations. The transaction allows us to have the benefit of a long-term capital partnership while maintaining 'business as usual' in the way the mountain is run as we accommodate the large regional audience driving to see us." The acquisition brings CNL's Northeast ski resort group to seven with (south to north) Jiminy, Okemo, Sunapee, Loon Mt., Bretton Woods, Sunday River, and Sugarloaf. The total CNL stable includes 23 ski and mountain lifestyle properties comprising 14 ski areas and eight village-centered retail developments. The company also has made four loans for ski-related assets and development parcels adjacent to ski resorts. The acquisition begs this question: How does CNL Lifestyle Properties remain aggressively in an acquisition mode during the biggest economic maelstrom in decades? Rice explained: "The philosophy of the R.E.I.T has been steady and conservative over the years," he told the IR. "The company is leveraged to only 34 percent of its assets and having a different way of accessing capital is helpful." CNL Lifestyle Properties is public, but non-traded. Shares are available to the public. "Good levels of cash help," he laughed. Rice said Jiminy Peak has a Master Plan, but no immediate major expansion plans are in the works. What It Means: There are few, if any, more pleasant places for family getaways than Jiminy Peak. If location, location, location is important today - and it is - the resort's proximity to huge New England markets is an incredible asset. The passion Brian Fairbank brings to the table makes this acquisition an obvious winner for all. « Previous Story | The Industry Report Home Page | Next Story » Comments
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Posted by: Tony Furman | January 28, 2009 07:53 AM
