Great Gulf and SP Land Co. finalize the purchase and sales agreement for 1,095 acres of development land including the Six Peak Village at the base of Snowshed and Ramshead at Killington Resort on Wednesday, May 3.
The sales price was $43 million, according to Town Clerk Lucrecia Wonsor, who received the official documents and was in the process of recording them late Wednesday afternoon. The deed was between SP Land Co and GG Killington LP.
“We have had the pleasure of meeting many of the Killington townspeople over the past months which confirmed that this was the perfect community to realize our passion and vision for this project,” Michael Sneyd, president of the Resort Residential Division of Great Gulf, stated Wednesday. “This is indeed an important milestone that we have achieved collectively and are proud and excited to make Killington one of the premiere locations in North America.”
A village at the base of Killington Resort has been planned since 1967. Those drawings, lead by founder Preston Smith even included a gondola connecting the Wobbly Barn in town, long-time locals have recounted. Over the years the original plan has been revised several times as various resort owners have secured ownership of additional lands. A least half a dozen plans have been made by various resort operators, but all have fallen through.
Now, the proposed Six Peaks Village is all but a certainty — with Act 250 permits secured and a plan to build the necessary municipal infrastructure (a municipal water system and improved Killington Road)
to support it. Residents of Killington voted overwhelmingly to support the municipal investments financed through Tax Increment Financing (TIF) at Town Meeting Day, March 7 with 75% of the voters approving it.
“Financing for the development of the village would not be possible without the big public investment in the road and water infrastructure,” Sneyd told the Vermont Economic Progress Council (VEPC) last year on May 26, 2022 — the first time he and Great Gulf were introduced as the likely developer.
“Following the Town Meeting Day vote, this land transfer was the most critical first step to pave the way for this exciting project in Killington,” Sneyd stated after the sale.
“When I started at Killington more than 20 years ago, the village discussion was already under way and we are ecstatic to see this project finally come to fruition,” said Killington Resort President and General Manager Mike Solimano. “I’m confident we have found the best partner in Great Gulf. They have enough resources to execute on the plan unrelated to the ups and downs in the real estate market. Plus, they are skiers who truly care about the present and future of Killington Resort, and there is a real willingness to agree on things to make this happen,” Solimano stated.
With the TIF bond vote secured and purchase now complete, Sneyd expressed his gratitude to all who helped the pieces come together. “We would like to thank the town of Killington Select Board and staff, the Killington Resort team, the Rutland Region Chamber & Economic Development leadership, the Vermont Economic Progress Council, and the residents of Killington for their unwavering support in welcoming us to Killington,” he stated May 3.
Resort ownership, village plans history
Killington Resort opened on Dec. 13, 1958. In November 1984, its parent the Sherburne Corp. became a publicly traded company —S-K-I Ltd. (Sherburne-Killington-Investments).
Killington offered summer activities too in the 1960s, and a village at the base of Killington Ski Area was planned to create a year-round resort. In 1967 the first Village Master Plan was presented.
In 1968 the plan was revised and called for a newly acquired 400-acre site to be used for a destination village with a ski lift to Snowshed. This addition of land was the result of Killington purchasing 1,400 acres of land on Camel’s Hump and trading it to the state for the 400 acres, enabling a larger village to be built, according to ski historian Karen D. Lorentz.
Condominiums were built by Killington at the 400-acre village periphery (Edgemont, Whiffletree) followed by a small hotel Killington Village Inn, which became The Villager.
With the early 1970s economic downturn and “gas crisis,” Killington founder Preston Leete Smith announced the company would look to recurring sources of real estate revenues (rentals and management services) and leave sales and construction of real estate projects to others.
After 1977 Killington’s policy was to sell or lease land to private developers. The Mountain Inn was the first Village Center hotel developed by a private party and was followed by the Cascade Lodge and Pinnacle and Mountain Green Condominiums.
By 1988 the Killington Village PUD totaled about 900 units and a golf course.
Trail Creek and Highridge followed but the Village Center stalled with the 1990 recession. Nevertheless, 423 hotel rooms/suites and 701 condominiums/homes had been developed in the 400-acre PUD. (Sunrise Village was also developed on another section of the ski area.)
In 1996, LBO Enterprises Corp., owned by Leslie B. Otten, bought Killington Resort as a package with three other S-K-I resorts including Mount Snow/Haystack, Sugarloaf, and Waterville Valley — for $137 million. The company then renamed itself American Skiing Company (ACS). Later that year ACS purchased Pico for $5 million.
Under new ownership, another historic land exchange expanded Killington’s base area. About 1,000 acres of yet to be developed mountainside to the East (known as Parker’s Gore) was traded to the state for 1,070 acres in the vicinity of Killington Basin to help spur the developing of a Killington Village. That land exchange occurred in Dec. 1997. This led to an updated 1998 Master Plan and the construction of the Killington Grand Hotel and Conference Center.
But the rest of Otten’s village plans for Killington came to a halt due to financial difficulties.
An initial deal for a developer to buy the land and build a village fell through in 2006, and in 2007 ASC announced it would sell Killington and Pico to SP Land Company for $83.5 million. SP Land Co., an affiliate of Texas-based private equity fund E2M Partners LLC, formed in 2004 when ASC had to restructure its real estate related debt and had been working to help secure a developer for the village. In 2007, SP Land acquired most of the developable land at the base of the resort. SP Land Company then formed a joint venture with Powdr Corp. to own and operate the resorts with each partner owning a small interest in the other company.
The 2007 purchase included all resort-owned operations, all of Killington/Pico’s resort-owned real estate assets and The Wobbly Barn restaurant — plus approximately $5 million debt and other liabilities.
The price was the highest ever paid for a New England ski resort, according to an article titled “As Big Company Sells Resorts, Hopes Rise for a Northeast Revival” in the Boston Globe March 22, 2007.
Great Gulf’s current purchase for $43 million includes all the land formerly owned by SP Land and the associated development rights. It does not include any recorded venture with Powdr.
Six Peaks Village, the plan
The planned Six Peaks Village has an Act 250 permit for Phase 1, which includes over 32,000 square feet of commercial space and approximately 239 new units of housing — consisting of condos, townhomes, and single-family homes.
“The village will be a hub of activity,” said Solimano. “Whether it’s something like ice skating or concerts, this will give people in the area a great place to come together and hang out, not to mention improving the availability of real estate and infrastructure in the Killington region.”
The first phase of the development is conservatively estimated to add at least $285 million of new taxable value to Killington’s Grand List, which would cover the TIF bond payments on the planned municipal infrastructure (those payments are separately guaranteed in a development agreement between the town and Great Gulf).
The Act 250 permit decision also contained “associated partial findings … in connection with proposed development of subsequent phases of the Killington Village Master Plan for the long-range development of an additional 2,107 housing units and 169,000 square feet of additional retail development,” according to the permit on file with the state.
Sneyd has also hinted at other ambitious development plans both for the village (including large scale events and concerts) as well as developments elsewhere in town, including the possibility of an expanded 32-hole golf course and a water park.
“We are excited to be developing Killington,” he’s said many times of the potential Great Gulf sees in the area.
But first thing is first. Groundwork for the new municipal water system will begin this summer with Phase 1 bringing water to the proposed Six Peaks Village. Sale of Six Peaks Killington are projected to begin as early as the next ski season 2023/2024. A specific timeline for construction of the Six Peaks Village is unknown, but based on pre-sales this fall construction could begin as soon as 2-3 years.
