The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Includes CBMR but nothing definitive
By Alissa Johnson
It seems that a possible buyer of CNL Lifestyle’s mountain properties, including Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR), visited the resort last week as part of due diligence related to any potential sale. No buyer has been officially announced, and it’s not clear how serious the buyer might be, or how many properties might be involved. Whether or not a sale is completed, the Mueller family’s Triple Peaks LLC would continue to control the management contract and run CBMR.
CNL, a real estate investment trust, has owned CBMR since 2008. CNL also owns Mount Sunapee Mountain Resort and Okemo Mountain Resort, and leases all three to the Mueller family, which manages the resorts through Triple Peaks, LLC.
In 2015, CNL announced it intended to sell its whole portfolio of mountain properties, which included 15 ski resorts among other assets. The company did not meet its own deadline for the sale, which was December 31, 2015.
CNL would not confirm whether a sale is now imminent, but RLF Communications vice president Michelle Rash, who handles media relations for CNL, provided a statement.
“CNL Lifestyle Properties continues to evaluate strategic options for its ski and mountain properties as it seeks to provide liquidity to its shareholders. During this process, CNL Lifestyle Properties remains committed to both the sector as a whole and its individual properties. We continue to work closely with our tenants and operators to provide guests with excellent resort experiences,” the statement read.
Erica Mueller, director of innovations and relations for CBMR, confirmed that a potential purchaser sent representatives to CBMR and other resorts.
“They are early on in this process at the moment, so it is pretty premature at this point. There has been some level of due diligence performed in the past by potential buyers of CNL’s portfolio and this time is no different,” Mueller said by email.
“With a deal of this size it is a long process, which also gives the buyers a lot of opportunity to change their minds and discontinue the purchase. We can’t speak to the level of confidence of this sale going through, as it should come from CNL,” Mueller continued.
Mueller did emphasize that with any sale, life will continue as usual for resort guests as well as locals, and they won’t notice any changes to facilities or guest services.
“Triple Peaks, LLC will continue to be the owner/operator of Crested Butte Mountain Resort and with that, Triple Peaks also makes the decisions on operations and for any improvements at the resort,” Mueller said.
