I am a small business owner and by default an unsecured lender in that I provide goods and services to the retail and hospitality industries like Tamarak on a billable basis and have been burned so many times by chapter 11 bankruptcies that I have had to build it into my costs and practices to all my customers up front.

Under Bush the II the bankruptcy laws were changed to protect the banks by protecting them from the huge amount of unsecured credit card borrowers that they have solicited into an obscene amount of debt while doing nothing to protect the struggling small business’ like mine.

The bankruptcy laws were originally enacted to protect citizens from onerous and excessive lending practices and it’s a sad state of affairs that they have become so corrupted as to become a routine business practice.

The bankruptcy attorney laid out the situation with Tamarack Resort extremely well. It boils down to this: the resort filed for bankruptcy protection after Societe Generale withdrew the resort’s credit line. Given this unexpected and critical blow, the resort had to take steps to ensure that it not only survives, but thrives. And as it thrives going forward so do the people it employs, so do its creditors and vendors, etc. Instead of finger-pointing at Tamarack Resort, people should have open minds and allow it to continue doing the right things to make lemonade out of the current lemons Societe Generale threw at it. It’s a world-class resort which has already greatly lifted up the state’s reputation and driven tourism dollars to it and will do so for years to come. It has provided a much coveted year-round recreational venue for state residents. If the owners were only in it for a quick buck they would have sold the project and bailed long ago. Mark these words: Tamarack Resort will be a shining light for the state and its residents for decades to come.

Once again I find myself reading from D.C. about my home state while I am stationed in the nation’s capitol. I was living in Boise at the time Tamarack (or is it Tamawreck?) was being pushed and built with their offices in 8th Street Marketplace. My question is what did they, the “Owners” do with all the money that was made when they sold out all their properties in two shakes of a lamb’s tail? I’m thinking that prudent business practices would have led them to reinvest their profits into the company so that they had a rainy-financing fund. Maybe they should talk to Micron’s bankers and get the same kind of funding that other non-profitable Idaho companies secure.

Excellent write up Randy. Anthony, the rumor on the street was and is that Tamarack, or entities controlled or influenced by them, actually bought much of that property so they could tout the “record” sales and help create a feeding frenzy so that people will be excited to purchase the resale of those properties. I would think that the paper generated by those sales would also be useful to show to lenders to induce them to issue a line of credit. But I must emphasize that this is only rumor. I have no evidence of this other than what’s been printed. Since they are in the speculation business I figured I could be as well. I do have a contractor client who stated that the place has been a “ghost town” this winter. By that he means that there is very little work for him. He’s actually been commuting to Park City to get revenue. I also have a developer buddy who pursuaded me long ago that the venture couldn’t work with the limited population base nearby among the factors cited.

Look for more developer corporations in Idaho to start begging for special tax breaks and other public support. Bryan’s Run and Avimor will be looking for favors in the near future.

The real estate market is taking a dive, as lending dries up due to the cascading defaults throughout the financial world. Sub-Prime borrowers are being blamed, now, but the whole lending business is ripe for collapse. Tamarack may have sold a bunch of lots . . . but how many are paid for? How many of those deals will fall through because the buyers’ financing fails, too?

The past two years saw a lot of planned communities being proposed here in Idaho as out-of-state developers swooped in to profit from cheap Idaho land. Local landowners and politicians climbed right into bed with them, and they have stomped all over locals who cried “Too much, too fast!”

I hope they all lose so much money they’ll swear off mass development for the next 50 years, and leave us some open land. Very soon it is going to be obvious we don’t have enough real jobs (except construction), we don’t have enough trade, we don’t have enough water, and this ill-conceived rapid growth has poisoned the air.

Maybe the down-turn will buy us some time to start thinking rationally about how we want to live in the future, instead of just bending over for builders.

EDITOR NOTE–Spoken like a true growthophobe…welcome aboard!

Jean-Pierre should be recognized as a marketing genius. He is a foreign investor that took advantage of the US economy plus dumb-luck, to cause an absolute feeding frenzy for his real estate.

It appears the entire infrastructure was built with borrowed money while the $500 million or so profit is probably hiding in the Caymans. As far as the “French Connection”… the bank which withdrew its loan offer; this is just more mystery added to the plot that should be sold as a Hollywood blockbuster.

My opinion as to the future of Tamarack is this: The cash that was being thrown at them is coming to an end. There is no doubt “a” resort will be built, however I speculate the pie will be split up. The ski operations will be sold off, the golf course will be sold off, and the base area will be yet another separate entity. The losers will be all of those buyers who are left with real estate that is worth 50 cents on the dollar.

Tamarack has caused its problems all by themselves, and the common denominator has been greed. They failed to provide due diligence during construction causing EPA fines; they are being sued by a San Diego couple for a questionable real estate transaction, and they recently asked the State to back a sewer and water expansion project so they can profit from more real estate sales.

I’m sure Tamarack owners would like you to believe everything is “business as usual”…that way no one will see them fleeing south on Hwy 55 with a French passport in hand.

There is more wrong with Tamerack than you can see or know. If the project was so good then getting a punny $116 million would not be a problem – other lenders would be happy to get in.

It is not the French banks that are the problem it is Tamerack itself. Like other “developers” or should we say “con artists” they sweet talk others (usually dumb locals) into thinking that they are so smart that they cannot fail. Then the locals give up the farm. Then the developers file Chapter 11 – let all the locals holding empty IOU’s and then they launder a bunch of money and head out of the country.

Happens even with condo developers around town too – just on a smaller scale.

What will happen to (sellers’) real estate prices at Tamarack?

Obviously they will fall, but by how much?
And will the resort ever get built out now?

EDITOR NOTE–All our sources and recent news reports indicate the place is doomed and awaiting implosion. Money is simply not available for such schemes.