Localism: Park City's The Canyons

Westgate Park City Resort & Spa Announces the Opening of the Latest Expansion

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 15:45:40 -0500

September 16, 2008 by Perspective Magazine: Timeshare & Fractional News & Reviews

America's premier destination mountain resort, Westgate Park City Resort & Spa, has opened the doors to a highly anticipated expansion that includes the all-new Bison Lodge and Moose Lodge. Completion of this project brings the number of keys at Westgate Park City Resort & Spa to 488, making the resort the largest in the Park City area.

The new lodges at Westgate Park City Resort & Spa include a variety of spacious 1-, 2-, and 4-bedroom floor plans. These luxury units feature granite countertops, high-end leather furnishings, jetted spas, granite steam showers, stone fireplaces and private balconies. The new lodge buildings also add over 6,000 square feet of conference space, 12,000 square feet of retail space, an outdoor pool and spa, and an indoor relaxation pool and spa area complete with steam and sauna rooms. These new amenities complement Westgate's "30 Amazing Amenities" program that already includes a 20,000 square foot destination spa, an Olympic-sized indoor/outdoor pool, and the Westgate Grill, hailed as one of the premier restaurants in the Park City area. Westgate Park City Resort and Spa has also been previously recognized by Expedia® users as one of the top 10 resorts in the country for customer service.

The new lodges have limited availability for families seeking timeshare or full-ownership real estate opportunities at a luxury ski-in/ski-out destination with unparalleled amenities.

The opening of the new lodges this summer coincides with the sale of The Canyons® to Talisker Corporation, a luxury real estate investment and development company with resorts in Canada, the United Kingdom, Eastern Europe and the US. Talisker Corporation successfully closed on its acquisition of The Canyons® resort in late June. Talisker has also invested in Deer Valley, another popular Park City resort. The future of The Canyons® has never been better.

David Siegel, Founder and CEO of Westgate Resorts, states, "We're thrilled to finally welcome our owners and guests to the new lodges at Westgate Park City Resort & Spa, a project that is turning out to be even more exciting due to the Talisker acquisition. Now that our expansion is complete, we're looking forward to showing it off during the upcoming ski season."

Westgate Park City Resort & Spa is located at 3000 The Canyons Resort Drive, Park City, UT 84098.

More Park City real estate information is available at www.grandametz.com or 435.659.8204

Talisker Purchase of The Canyons...UPDATE

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:58:26 -0500

Below is an update on the Talisker Purchase of The Canyons....but first....let's acknowledge the Park City Highschool's recent ranking by Newsweek Magazine as 286 in the nation....not to shabby! Also, the Park City Highschool Soccer Team took state last week. GO PCHS!!!!!!

Talikser Purchasing The Canyons - Update:

Talisker Corporation is still working on moving toward closing on the purchase of the Canyons Resort. Closing was supposed to have taken place by the end of business last Saturday.

Tim Vetter the spokesman for The Canyons confirmed that the sale did not go through on Saturday as planned, but an extension is in place.

According to a form filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Monday, the extension runs until Friday. Vetter added that everyone is working away to make the sale happen.

Kenny Griswold who owns the majority of property at The Canyons resort and would be Talisker's landlord after the sale, says it's unfortunate the sale didn't close on Saturday, adding that this delay doesn't create a lot of confidence.

Because American Skiing Company is a publicly traded company, all disclosures must be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission before publicly disclosed.

According to the amended Purchase Agreement between Talisker and American Skiing Company, the owner of The Canyons, Talisker had until May 31st to secure the 125-million dollars to close on the sale, which included $100-million for the lease to operate the resort and another 25-million that would go into an account to operate the resort.

Two months ago, on March 25th, ASC and Talisker entered into an amendment of the Purchase Agreement acknowledging that Talisker and ASC are not in breach of the agreement, that they have waived the right to terminate the Agreement except under certain limited circumstances. They also agreed to certain conditions on any subsequent sale of the Canyons by Talisker in limited circumstances. None of those circumstances were disclosed.

Talisker has as much as 20-million dollars riding on this acquisition in the form of non-refundable deposits which have been paid to postpone closing on the sale. Talisker was first scheduled to close on the Canyons last December 31st. At that time, an additional 2 and a half million dollars was deposited, bringing the total good faith deposit to 12 and a half million dollars. In March, an additional deposit was made for 7 and a half million dollars in exchange other concessions made under the Purchase Agreement.

Dakota Mountain Lodge Aligns With Waldorf Astoria Collection

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 13:21:43 -0600

Developers are placing big bets on assorted new developments at the base of The Canyons Resort, and the arrival of the venerable Waldorf=Astoria name may be an indicator of exciting future of Park City's largest ski resort.

Will Luxury Icon Deer Valley® Resort Have to Compete with The Canyons® Resort for Tomorrow's Luxury Ski Visitors?

Here's the rest of the Dakota Mountain Lodge / Waldorf=Astoria story