Mulvihill buys Mountain Creek

Mega-resort in the works, new owner says, By Ray Smith Vernon — There is a new king of the mountain. Crystal Springs Resort has purchased Mountain Creek from struggling Intrawest with plans to transform the vacation destination into a mega-resort. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Andrew Mulvihill, president of Crystal Springs, says he has high hopes for Mountain Creek and the surrounding area. “For us, it’s all about creating a place where people want to come and enjoy life and have fun,” Mulvihill said. “That’s what my job is, to create a place for people to have fun.” Mulvihill said he believes the addition of new amenities will make Mountain Creek an even more desirable destination. “The platform has been created and a lot of the pieces are already in place,” he said. “What’s missing is some additional shopping and dining and entertainment options, so we need to make that happen.” Wary of promising too much Mulvihill would not deliver a timeline on when he believes the public will be able to see changes at Mountain Creek. “We have very aggressive ideas, but I don’t want to over-promise,” he said. “I like to think that we deliver. When we say we’re going to do something, we do it. I’m not in a position to announce anything right now.” Mountain Creek is now in the hands of the Mulvihill family for a second time. Before Intrawest, Eugene Mulvihill, Andrew’s father, was the owner of the area, then known as Great Gorge Resort. Intrawest purchased the company out of bankruptcy in 1998 and attempted a revival of the tourist attraction. The recent sale of Mountain Creek by Intrawest marks the seventh time since October 2009 that the troubled company has unloaded a resort. Ian Galbraith is director of corporate communications for Intrawest, the Vancouver, Canada, based company that owns and operates ski resorts. Galbraith was reached via e-mail by The Advertiser-News. Intrawest has not published a press release, he said, and would not be taking part in media interviews. However, Galbraith said via e-mail: “Today, the resort simply does not fit into Intrawest’s long-term strategy to focus on a core set of resort properties and businesses.” Intrawest has recently refinanced its debt and completed a new loan. The company made plans to sell off some resorts and improve the larger destinations. One such destination which remains in possession of Intrawest is Whistler Blackcomb Resort, home of the alpine skiing events from February’s Winter Olympics. Taking an economic hit According to Intrawest’s 1998 annual report, Mountain Creek was acquired on Feb. 18, 1998 for $40 million. Intrawest is now a privately traded company, and thus does not release a public annual report. The company initially pumped millions of dollars into Mountain Creek, and was the recipient of the Governor’s Economic Development Award from the State of New Jersey in 1999 for producing significant economic growth and job creation. However, Intrawest has encountered problems since that point, partly due to the economic downturn beginning in 2007. The company had well-publicized financial problems and was purchased by Fortress Investment Group, a New York based alternative asset management firm. Mountain Creek: 170 acres of ski trails. 70-acre waterpark. Crystal Springs and Mountain Creek together: span 5 miles in 4 townships: Vernon, Hardyston, Hamburg, Franklin total: 15,000 acres of property golf courses, spas, ski venues, snowboard trails, mountain bike park, hotels, an 80,000-bottle wine cellar

We’re not looking to build strip malls, we’re not looking to build big box stores; we’re looking to do something that’s creative and unique. I can tell you we’re working really hard on doing some really amazing things.”Andrew Mulvihill

Skeptical view
Last week’s announcement by Andrew Mulvihill was not the first time Mountain Creek visitors were promised a paradise in Vernon. Not all residents are confident that the development will move forward. “This whole concept of developing a mega-, world class resort, we’ve heard it before,” said Tom McClachrie, a spokesperson for Vernon’s Taxpayer Association. “It didn’t work out in the 1980s, it didn’t work out in the 1990s, it failed in the 2000s and now we’re on to the next phase.”
Hopeful
“Perhaps everyone’s optimism is up and they think it’s going to work but history says it’s not,” McClachrie said. McClachrie views the potential that Vernon may come to rely on this development as risk-taking. “People are always hopeful that in the future something will actually change that will lower the tax rate,” McClachrie said. “If you are prudent with the finances and you have provided the core services that taxpayers need, you can operate on a lower budget from what they currently do on the municipal level and the county level. Then, you can deliver those services efficiently and don’t have to rely on gambles, because that’s what this is, it’s a gamble.”
In the works
An Appalachian ski village was planned by Intrawest in the mid-2000s, but the real estate market was not favorable for purchasers of second homes. Storefronts and dwellings remain vacant. With the economic conditions improving since then, Mulvihill said he believes it’s a positive move. In addition to tax benefits, the town could see large scale job creation if the mega-resort is successfully developed, he said.“When we took Crystal Springs over in 1995, there were about 20 people working there,” Mulvihill said. “Now, we’ve got a couple thousand people working there. We expect to continue to expand and create a lot of jobs.” Mulvihill does not imagine the future of Mountain Creek as a run-of-the-mill entertainment center.