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.

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.

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.

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!

EDITOR NOTE–There is a plan in the works to make 18 square miles of public land available to them through some intergovernmental trades with the U.S. Forest service and state land board.

Tamarack is to pay the USFS about $1.6 million for an environmental statement, but probably won’t do it soon. The state land board is looking at a “business plan,” but they are not seeking any proposals outside Tamarack at present. This needs to be opened up to all comers, not handled as an insider trade.