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February 3–First, the ski conditions at Mammoth are excellent. Thankfully I can speak from personal experience. Okay, down to business. A January 23rd article in the Wall Street Journal has exposed new information about Mammoth's new owner that has not been previously discussed in any media outlet that I can find. The article spells out a clear separation between Barry Sternlicht and his Starwood Capital Group (a private investment group) from his previous employer Starwood Hotels and Resorts (a publicly traded company.) According to the article, Strenlicht left Starwood Hotels after months of feuding with other (and apparently recently hired) upper management. The article also states that Sternlicht was one of Starwood Hotels' largest shareholders and he has now sold a "large portion" of his stake.
At the helm of Starwood Capital, he has raised billions in investment capital and is now poised to launch an ultra luxury hotel brand that will compete with Starwood Hotels' luxury brands like St. Regis, W, and Westin. To start the ball rolling he recently acquired (for $3.2 billion–the $365 million for Mammoth appears to be a nominal investment) the parent company of the Hotel de Crillon in Paris. This luxury hotel (I can't say I've stayed there) will be the model for a chain of new hotels that are going to be "obscenely rich and obscenely beautiful" and will be positioned at the "top of the market." According to the article Sternlicht also plans to develop mid tier hotels also. One thing of interest, Sternlicht is barred from hiring any Starwood Hotels employees until May of this year. The tone of the article implied he still had a working relationship with Starwood Hotels but that he clearly wants to go into competition with Starwood Hotels' luxury hotel brands. Maybe there is a doorman's position in my future. Regardless, the plot thickens here in Mammoth.
Meanwhile, what is the buzz on Mammoth real estate? The market is coming out of the January doldrums. Inventory remains low–and the absorption of any new decent listings has kept it that way. The segments with the greatest action are high-end lots (go figure), ski oriented properties, especially ones at the Chair 15/Eagle Base, and homes under $1 million. The days of finding a residential lot under $500K and a home under $1M are almost gone. Condos under $300K are almost extinct. Bluff lots at $800K are looking like good buys.
Intrawest (who are they?) is beginning the marketing of Altis, their ski-in ski-out fractional/club project (above the Bridges Condominiums and next to the Greyhawk subdivision). There is plenty of fractional available in town, so if you are in the market take some time to look around. Important; history shows that every time Intrawest cranks up their marketing machine the interest in Mammoth real estate goes up and so do the values.
The Starwood PR and marketing machine should start-up pretty soon too. Thoughts are they just want to get the real estate acquisitions completed with Intrawest and then the noise will begin. We're probably thirty days (+/-) away from the beginning of what has become out hottest selling season and we have great skiing, very little inventory, marketing machines in motion and lots of national and international interest piqued by this Barry Sternlicht guy buying the Ski Area. While the majority of real estate markets in the United States are beginning to see air leak out of the bubble, it certainly doesn't look like it is happening here in the Eastern Sierra.
So what else? Phase 6 of Snowcreek, known as The Lodges, has been a hot seller and reseller, and the "Phase on the Hill" is coming soon. It will be expensive but it is one of the finest pieces of real estate in all of Mammoth. Hopefully the long-awaited grading for the back ten of the Snowcreek golf course will begin this summer…The final EIR process has been initiated by the Mountain for the development of the base lodge and condo/hotel at the Chair 15/Eagle Base area. Construction is slated to begin the spring of '07…The "Hillside" property next to the Westin is ready for construction as soon as the snow melts and the hotel flag on that property is purported to be Ritz-Carlton. The reservation process is well under way with prices per square foot being bumped at triggered intervals with some ultimate sale prices headed towards the $1500+ per square foot range (maybe they'll need a good doorman)...I'll reserve comment on the airport but plenty of energy is moving things forward. And don't forget the new owner of the Ski Area is ready to put real dollars behind this…lots of "in town" commercial property is changing hands or in escrow. I hope they have viable business models or large bank accounts to service the debt…A June election has three Town Council seats up and one incumbent not running. This is going to prove to be the most heated "green" versus development election this town has ever seen–should get real interesting. I'm surprised it has taken this long. If the anti-development crowd gets their foot in the door here then watch real estate values really go into the stratosphere as a result of more supply/demand imbalance…The major workforce/government sponsored housing projects in Old Mammoth and on Meridian Blvd. are close to completion and should be occupied this summer. It will be interesting to see their impact on local rents and/or the availability of desperately needed service personnel for local businesses.
The Mammoth Times has decided to publish the Real Estate Times on a monthly basis instead of eight times per year. I'm going to do my best to keep up with that schedule. Don't hesitate to send me your questions or topics to be addressed
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