Freeze Is On At Schweitzer Ski Resort’s Legal Problems Trigger Real Estate Slide
A few months ago, Mike Porter was ready to turn off the water, turn down the heat and close up his Schweitzer Mountain Resort condominium.
“With the legal matters just dragging on, the real estate market up here has come to a screeching halt. No one wants to touch a thing,” said Porter, an airline pilot who lives in one condo and rents another to skiers.
“I was ready to pull out of here, shut my place down in November and let it sit there for the winter.”
Schweitzer is millions in debt and up for sale. The resort’s owners have filed for bankruptcy protection, and a court-appointed attorney has run the mountain for nearly two years.
In late December, when enough snow finally flew to draw skiers, Porter managed to rent out his condo. But land and home sales continue to be sparse. Buyers are as cautious as first-time skiers.
“There is a certain amount of hesitancy,” said Steve Van Horne, a real estate agent at Schweitzer for Coldwell Banker. “Banks in Spokane have told some customers you don’t want to go up there (Schweitzer). It’s not a good time to go there.”
Still, a few condominiums have changed hands, and some new units were built and sold. Van Horne called it a “good amount” of business but well off the pace of previous years. Some savvy investors are trying to take advantage of the slump, Van Horne said. They are buying condos at reduced prices anticipating the resort’s legal morass will be solved soon and prices will again climb.
“Some prices have declined, but I don’t think anybody is losing their original investment,” he said. “There are no fire sales. Unless people have to sell, they are holding off this year and sticking by their prices.”
The Lazier Center, a nearly completed retail and condominium complex in the resort’s village, is still looking for tenants. So far, only two of the eight condo units in the complex have sold. No new major development projects were started this year.
“There have been so many announcements about what was going to happen at Schweitzer this year that developers are taking a deep breath and sitting back,” Van Horne said.
At least two developers have pondered filing a lawsuit against resort owners Bobbie Huguenin and her mother, Jean Brown, saying their legal antics caused the real estate slump. The two family members have tried to stop the sale of Schweitzer to Harbor Properties Inc., a Seattle firm.
Until the mess with family members is worked out, resort-owned property is in limbo, said attorney Ford Elsaesser, the trustee appointed to run the resort.
“I can see the reason for a lot of uncertainty, but we are not about to give anything away up here dirt cheap,” he said.
Elsaesser recently sold 2,000 acres on Baldy Mountain, which is not connected to the ski hill. Stimson Lumber Co. bought the logged over property for $2.2 million. Cash from the sale will go to pay resort creditors, including U.S. Bank which is owed about $21 million, Elsaesser said.
Overall, the real estate market in Bonner County hasn’t been on fire. “For Sale” signs litter lawns all over the county where more than 2,400 properties are on the market.
The glut has lowered prices, said Jim Watkins, a real estate agent at Panhandle-Kanisku. Some homeowners who bought at premium prices several years ago are having trouble making back their investment. The average home is on the market 190 days.
“It’s a buyer’s market,” Watkins said. “There is too much inventory and not enough buyers coming through.” He predicts that will change this year. Few new homes were built in 1997, interest rates are low, and Watkins said Bonner County has cleaned up its reputation.
Schweitzer didn’t close as some feared, the school district has a new superintendent and the area hasn’t been plagued with negative media coverage like it received for Ruby Ridge, militias and former Los Angeles detective Mark Fuhrman’s move here.
“People are feeling good about the area now. We are working on our most visible problems,” Watkins said.
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