Vancouver Olympics Ski Resort Foreclosure Postponed, but Threat Still Looms

The owners of the Whistler-Blackcombe ski resort, site of many of the 2010 Winter Olympics have received a reprieve. Lenders had threatened to foreclose on the resort yesterday because the owners of the resort are hundreds of millions of dollar behind in their payments.

The date of the foreclosure has now been postponed until two days before the closing ceremonies. Lenders, which include now closed Lehman Brothers, have been trying to put more pressure on the owners, Intrawest, to come up with the past due payments ($500 million due in December 2009) while the Olympics are still taking place.

Intrawest, a company which also owns other ski resorts, is in deep financial trouble since the crash of the housing market. They had been counting on sales of properties adjacent to ski resorts to help with the payments on the financing for the resorts. But since the crash of the economy, housing sales have been slow, and properties have lost value, which has created a financial crisis for Intrawest.

The lenders gave Intrawest a one week reprieve on the foreclosure auction, and talks continue to find a work around to this problem.

Some analysts believe threats of foreclosure are nothing more than threats, and that foreclosure will not be the ultimate outcome. The fact that the Winter Olympics are taking place now at Whistler-Blackcomb resort has thrown this financial crisis into the headlines. There have been other ski resorts that have gone to auction this ski season already, and more may follow before the economy turns.

The fact that Lehman Brothers is involved in this transaction adds more "juice" to this story since Lehman Brothers is still trying to recover as much money as possible since its financial collapse.

There are potential buyers for Whistler Blackcombe, so sale of the property prior to a foreclosure auction is still possible. Bankruptcy is another option being discussed, which will buy current owners more time in finding a buyer or renegotiating the current loans.

For more details about this story, you might be interested in reading:
Analysts call Whistler Auction a Threat

Will Lenders Foreclose Against Whistler-Blackcombe Ski Resort During the Olympics?

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