Powderhorn Ski Resort Sells for Over $2 Million

MESA, COLO. — At a Mesa, Colo., real estate auction on August 4, J. P. King Auction Company sold the Powderhorn Ski Resort, including the Inn at Wildewood and a 700-acre tract of development land. The total inventory, which sold for $2,083,950, attracted 24 bidders from Colorado, while a crowd of 200 individuals, who enjoyed an afternoon of excited bidding, hors d’oeuvres, and live entertainment, came to see the future of their community’s ski resort.

The property was sold in six groups. The first group, which included the ski resort, ski lifts and the Day Lodge, sold to Andy Daly and Tom and John Gart, who also bought the 700-acre development tract. The partners bought the property under the name Powderhorn Partners, LLC for $1.4 million. They plan to make upgrades to the lifts and snowmaking capabilities for the 2011-2012 ski season before entering a comprehensive planning process for next year. Daly is the former president of Vail Associates, Inc.

Before Saturday’s absolute auction, which means the property would sell with no minimums and no reserves, the resort had been owned by Dean Skalla and Steve Bailey for over a decade. The two men, in their 70s and choosing to retire, decided to sell the resort at auction so the new owner would have time to prepare and open Powderhorn for the upcoming ski season.

This auction, though the first ski resort sold by J. P. King, adds to a long list of unique properties in J. P. King’s portfolio. J. P. King has also sold a raceway, Thoroughbred breeding and training facility Calumet Farms and the Kluge Winery, which sold to Donald Trump in April.

Upcoming auctions for J. P. King include a mansion on Mercer Island , the Hagadone Estate in Coeur d’ Alene, Ida., and 25,000 acres on the Enon and Sehoy Plantations in Alabama.