Treasurer says Weber County’s bond deal with Summit Powder Mountain in good shape
In this undated photo, construction can be seen in the Summit Village area of Powder Mountain ski resort.
In this undated photo, construction can be seen in the Summit Village area of Powder Mountain ski resort.
In this undated photo, construction can be seen in the Summit Village area of Powder Mountain ski resort.
In this undated photo, construction can be seen in the Summit Village area of Powder Mountain ski resort.
In this undated photo, construction can be seen in the Summit Village area of Powder Mountain ski resort.
In this undated photo, construction can be seen in the Summit Village area of Powder Mountain ski resort.
In this undated photo, construction can be seen in the Summit Village area of Powder Mountain ski resort.
In this file photo, the Northern Wasatch mountains can be seen out the windows of the sunken yurt in the Skylodge on Powder Mountain. The private lodge was the first structure built on the mountain by the Summit Group.
In this undated photo, construction can be seen in the Summit Village area of Powder Mountain ski resort.
In this undated photo, construction can be seen in the Summit Village area of Powder Mountain ski resort.
In this undated photo, construction can be seen in the Summit Village area of Powder Mountain ski resort.
In this undated photo, construction can be seen in the Summit Village area of Powder Mountain ski resort.
OGDEN — Weber County’s 20-year bonding package with Summit Powder Mountain’s owners continues to run smoothly, unaffected by a major legal entanglement the development has encountered, the county treasurer says.
The Weber County Commission in 2013 created a special tax assessment area and approved a $17.9 million bond issuance to pay for roads, sewer, water and other infrastructure at the core of a planned $1 billion development. The county projected potential long-term gains in property tax revenue, jobs and economic growth.
Summit just recently paid its annual installment on the bond, about $1.4 million, County Treasurer John Bond said. “We do have a relationship with them,” he said, and Summit’s share of bond repayment is gradually declining because each lot or home owner who buys into the development assumes a portion of the repayment costs.
The Summit Mountain Holding Group, owner and operator of the ski resort and the unfolding development, is in a legal tussle over $120 million in “crowd investor” funding needed to build Summit Village, the centerpiece of the project.
Summit recently sued two investment groups in U.S. District Court, asking for $51 million in damages. In its lawsuit, Summit said it received only $42 million from the lenders by 2018, stalling the planned $207 million Village project. Summit alleged the lenders raised the $120 million — aided by Summit’s securing an appearance at an investors’ event by basketball star Kobe Bryant — but spent most of the sum on other projects.
The lawsuit shortly followed a loan default notice served by the lenders.
“Because the borrower was relying on those funds to complete Summit Village, the borrower was never able to do so,” the suit said.
Summit Powder Mountain general manager Mark Schroetel said last week the group was seeking other financing for the Village project and the loan dispute would not impede the project’s success.
The Village is envisioned as a high-end core consisting of hotels, lodges, condominiums, restaurants, retail spaces and a home for the Summit Series of entrepreneurial conferences.
While the village has had no “vertical” construction so far beyond the underlying infrastructure, home sites in surrounding neighborhoods have been sold and built. Schroetel said the Overlook neighborhood, a prime mountaintop area for single-family homes, is underway as well.
Big names such as Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson own lots in the developments, Schroetel said, “and we have at least three very high-profile people in homes.”
A reserve fund mechanism was built into the county bond agreement, Bond said, with two years of bond funds held “if there were hiccups along the way.”
He said officials are not worried about the project, even though it has suffered delays.
“Currently the county is in the role as almost a cosigner on that bond,” the treasurer said. But even with delays, all the while property values in the area have increased, further enhancing the positions of both the county and Summit, he said.
Further, the county is protected from any worst-case scenario because the county is the first-position lien holder on the property.
“We wish them success in all that they are doing,” Bond said. “They’ve had some challenges and we hope they are able to have success.”
Bond referred to homes both completed and under construction, and the banner year that the ski resort had last winter.
“That shows that people are still very attracted to ski there and come to the Ogden Valley,” Bond said. “We are seeing some homes finished up there that are just beautiful.”
With the Village delayed, Bond said, everyone hopes “the homeowners have got the kind of patience for things to mature a little bit and that they can get this thing to evolve.”
The initial plan in 2013 projected up to 500 ski-accessible homes connected to the Village core. Schroetel said last week the plan is being “reimagined” by the Summit group because of market conditions and COVID-19-related setbacks, but he expected all major elements will remain.
The Summit Series group acquired Powder Mountain with the stated goal of creating a destination community for entrepreneurs, innovators, thought leaders and artists. Its invitation-only Series events attract big names in various fields with some choosing to put down roots in the development as well.
Summit’s expansion has not been without controversy. Entities including Ogden City protested a water exchange from Pineview Reservoir for the resort in 2014, but the state Water Resources Division approved it. A similar exchange from the east fork of the Little Bear River in Cache County was approved in 2019.