Berry on Fractions & Shared Ownership: March 2010

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

March '10 Blog

Signs of life out there? It seems so. The phones are ringing, development partners are talking, are the banks lending? Well, two out of three isn't bad compared to 2009.

Ragatz conference is upcoming next week; chock filled with lawyers and suppliers and woefully short of marketers and developers - a sign of the times. We'll be there.

ARDA last week - many upbeat, but the timeshare business has really been decimated. And, with fewer new sales and more defaults it brings back the scary scenario of a tidal wave of resales swamping developer sales. Far too long has this issued been ignored.

ULI coming in three weeks where the meeting landscape will be littered with stalled deals and deals gone back to lenders and underfunded HOAs. Those will probably be the common topics…how and when a workout occurs.

Consumer uncertainty has been the largest impediment to buyers, other than bottom feeders, coming back into the market. One part of that uncertainty the House of Representatives took care of last Sunday with their vote on the health. Like the higher taxes or not, worry about available quality medicine aside at least one, large social issue has been decided. Energy is next.

Once that has been decided, and we have the November election buyers will come back. I predict that the winter season 2010-11 will be terrific. Like the social policy or not, like the higher taxes or not, like who controls Congress; at least those who wanted 'change' have it, and we all need to get on with our businesses.

Our Whitefish MT project continues to chug along. We are looking at moving into two other, major deals. So, count Star with the glass half full crowd…at least maybe filling to the half level.

About Carl Berry

Carl Berry is CEO of Star Resort Group, which is the nation’s oldest and most respected fractional/private residence club developer and marketer. Star is headquartered in Bozeman, Montana.

Star’s current projects are located in St Simons Island GA, Saratoga Springs NY and Windham Mountain NY. Completed projects are located in Lake Tahoe CA, Snowmass CO, Steamboat Springs CO, Cave Creek AZ, Pinehurst NC, and Stowe VT.

Carl was the founder of The World’s Finest Resorts, the leading luxury exchange company acquired in 2005 by The Registry Collection a unit of RCI.

Shared ownership projects have been the focus of Carl’s development career for 40 years. He brought to market the first, fee ownership timeshare project in the World, in 1973 located at Brockway Springs, Lake Tahoe CA.

The Manhattan Club, New York City is the largest urban timeshare project in the World with 242 luxury apartments. It has completed sales. Other urban timeshare projects developed by Carl are located in San Francisco and New Orleans.

Timeshare projects, in the Western United States, are located in Lake Tahoe CA, Sun Valley ID, Vail CO, Sunriver OR and LaJolla CA.

Holiday Clubs International was the first multi site hotel program, which was a venture with Holiday Inns using company owned properties from Bermuda to Hawaii.

He is a former Chairman of ARDA and a member of its Board for over 18 years. Previously he served a Chair of the ARDA International Foundation Educational Institute, Chair of the Meetings and Membership Committees and Chair of the National Timeshare Council.

Carl is a founder and director of the Meritus College Fund, nonprofit providing four-year college scholarships, a National Board Member of the Lionel Hampton Center Initiative for the University of Idaho, a former president of the University of Idaho Foundation and a former president of the Alumni Association. He was recently named to the University of Idaho Hall of Fame.