Desties

posted by Desties on Oct 30

Is there a white knight waiting in the wings to scoop up High Country Club? 

I’m hoping somebody does, if only to take a hit for the team so the industry doesn’t have to go through the whole Tanner & Halley fiasco in winning back consumer credibility.

And by taking “a hit for the team” I don’t mean that HCC wouldn’t be a great collection of properties and members. It would. The problem is that it’s unlikely that a rational club would buy in. Since the mortgage holders are owed more than the properties are worth, it would be cheaper for any club to just buy new properties instead of inheriting homes that are underwater. Dues-paying members are great to have, but most clubs would have to jack those dues to make it commensurate with what current members are paying in their own clubs. Perhaps more importantly, is that they would be acquiring members who have expectations of getting their deposits back with the acquiring club not getting anything in return.

After Ultimate Resorts acquired the T&H properties in bankruptcy, it offered its members the ability to join the club, with the expectation that they would get most of their original deposit back if they stuck around for another 5-7 years. The math made sense on Ultimate’s part at the time, becasue it had a ton of new properties and needed bodies to fill them. I don’t know if a club would make such a generous offer this time around. It costs plenty to acquire a new member, but clearly not the amount of any initial deposit.

So what’s it going to be? Is someone going to step up and take a hit for the team? Steve Case? Are you angling for karma points?

Tags: exclusive resorts | high country club | steve case