Catching Up with Carl: February 2017

About Star Resort Group

Star Resort Group, and it predecessors, has its roots in the shared ownership business beginning in 1973 by getting registered in California and bringing to market the first fee ownership timeshare in the world at Brockway Springs, in Lake Tahoe, CA.

Since that time, the principals of Star have been involved in mixed-use and shared ownership projects.

Other notable firsts include urban timesharing in San Francisco, New Orleans and New York City, and the first fractional development company in the world, funded by Starwood Capital.

Since 2000, Star has focused on fractional ownership, with projects in Lake Tahoe; Steamboat Springs, CO; Snowmass, CO; Stowe, VT; Snowbird, UT; Whitefish, MT; Cave Creek, AZ; Myrtle Beach, SC; St. Simons Isle, GA; Aruba; and Puerto Vallarta.

A hallmark of Star is its understanding and application of innovative use and reservation plans, as well as a deep understanding of buyer motives for the purchasing of a fractional interest.

It's one thing to be an innovator; it's another to remain contemporary in the business. The principals of Star have done both.

Star develops for its own account and works with developers for advisory services and marketing and selling services.

Star and its team of planners, marketing and sales experts, developers, and legal and financial specialists have worked with some of the industry's most recognized and respected brands in locations all over the planet, including Raffles Hotels & Resorts, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, and Starwood Capital, with projects in Manila, Croatia, London, Crimea, Seychelles, French Polynesia, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and throughout the United States.

Catching Up with Carl: January 2017

With Trump coming in the deal flow is picking up; Red or Blue, the market is upbeat about future resort development prospects.

Ocean Lodge on St. Simons Island, GA: The marketing plan, done by Star’s senior marketing exec Chris Cannon, is complete and accepted. We’re going after a wellness theme so our major market can see using four weeks of time. Our lead sales person, Sandy Staudemayer, is ready to leave Montana for Georgia. We plan to be in business the first week of February with dependable lead flow.

Seagate, or Ocean Lodge II: This is the 25-unit building ‘next’ to Ocean Lodge. The market report by Wally Hobson of Hobson Advisors is complete and approved. Now we need to secure the equity financing to go along with the BB&T banking commitment to acquire the property just a few steps from Ocean Lodge. The Seagate’s 25 units to go along with Ocean Lodge’s 14 units give us a decent size project, for an independent that is. Or 39 units x 12 shares each [for now] = 468 shares to sell.

Saratoga Springs Polo continues with the lawyers. Our lawyer had a phone call with the current owner’s lawyer to offer a settlement, a lawsuit or to have the current owners join we three buyers [Duane Gerenser, Mike Connor and myself] on our development LLC that has been formed for some time.

Windham Ski: The venture with the current owners continues on a positive track, and we expect to be in first phase development this spring.

Marina Pointe, Big Bear, CA, is at a stalemate for now. The owner is proceeding ahead with the development of ‘super sites’ that will house 14 to 28 pre-approved condominium units. Our interest is to buy, subject to a number of elements, one or more of the sites for fractional condominium sales.

A comment about getting deals done without a lot of up-front cash, and trading on Star’s reputation of effective sales: As mentioned last month, the deals that were on the table pre-recession have a ton of ‘hair’ on them as the developers had to jump through many and varied hoops to keep control. It’s a delicate world out there. Even though September 2008 is almost a decade ago, the memory is still vibrant in the minds of many, and for good reason.

As California is ‘broke’ and overtaxed, Star has added Marvin Rappaport of Coral Springs, Florida, as Financial VP and Duane Gerenser of Manchester Center, Vermont, as our Northeastern VP of Development. A long overdue welcome to both. This extends Star’s reach to the East Coast. Both Marvin and Duane will work in concert with our Scott Tracy and Chris Cannon for administration and escrow and marketing respectively. There’s that dangling participial at the end of the sentence!

Catching Up with Carl: December 2016

Here we are at the end of another year.

I am reflecting a lot on the difficulty of getting projects signed that began their life before the recession, so pre-2009. In many cases, these are the ‘ready to go’ projects that we focus on. But, for the developer or owner to have them in their control, all these years means that the financing is convoluted, or they would have long ago lost the project back to the lender or its equivalent. So, lately we spend what I consider an inordinate amount of time working through the ins and outs of either a finance tangle or a developer who has so succeeded in keeping control of the project that he does not know how to let it go. All this assumes that Star offers a market rate deal and the prospect of success in marketing and sales.

That said, what does Star have ‘on the books’ at the end of 2016?

Ocean Lodge, the Golden Isles, GA: one of Star's real stars, in sales, has agreed to kick off our selling program in 2017. Sandy Staudenmayer is the key player for us and for Ocean Lodge. She'll arrive in January. We have our Scott Tracy to thank for getting Sandy in the 'do' mode.

The Seagate building, across the street from Ocean Lodge, includes 24 one-bedroom units, condominiumized and ready to go for sales of whole or fractional units to extend the sales program at Ocean Lodge. It’s in the process of getting financed thanks to Peter Temling and our Marvin Rappaport, who is Star’s VP of finance. We are there December 8th to start the financing process. Wally Hobson is doing the feasibility for Star.

Saratoga Springs Polo is still in legal limbo as we work through the process of leveraging out the two errant partners. We believe, at worst case, we'll end up with either the property [our first choice] or a financial settlement.

Windham Ski, Poconos: Duane Gerenser, Star’s VP of development in the Northeast, is working with the owners to get an agreement that will also allow Star to finance and build out the some 300+ home sites there.

Alas, I am afraid the Big Bear, CA, project, Marina Pointe, is slipping away as the owner does not want to sell all or part of it to our group. See my notes at the beginning of this newsletter about developers who have kept the dream alive for over a decade.

Mahalee, in Markleeville, CA, is a large development in California’s Sierra Nevada, about 30 minutes to South Lake Tahoe, and includes unspoiled country and four-season activities. It was counting on what Star considered unrealistic financing avenues, but is back again and more realistic this time around. We are assisting the owner to correctly package the property for sale or for selling.

So, Merry Christmas and let’s all plan for a grand New Year.

Catching Up with Carl: November 2016

It’s been a long drought, but we finally signed a marketing and sales contract at Ocean Lodge on St. Simons Island, just off the Georgia coast. Brunswick is the nearest town. We’ll be selling fractions and time share interests. A big ‘shout out’ goes to Marvin Rappaport, who engineered the ‘deal’ for us. Also to Chris Cannon, our chief marketing guru whose work is now just beginning. And, of course, to our Scott Tracy, who as always keeps Star on the right path.

At Ocean Lodge—a boutique hotel, 15 rooms and rooftop restaurant—we are taking it ‘private,’ or from one owner to many… a transfer of debt from one to many to say it another way.

St Simons Island is adjacent to Sea Island, long the ‘class’ of the barrier islands. Pre-recession they instituted a quarter share program; purpose built, with very large units. They were all reserved, but not closed.

Then, September 2008 came and most dropped out. Just recently Sea Island, itself having gone through a change of ownership for the hotel and unsold lots, re-commissioned the quarter share program. Randy Burgess is the PD and sales manager, and a top-flight professional. The two products [Sea Island quarters and Ocean Lodge 1/12 fractions] are so different that we don’t see much in the way of one-on-one competition.

Our other deals are moving along, but not ready to activate:

•Marina Point at Big Bear, CA—we are negotiating with the owner on a purchase of JV.
•Saratoga Polo, NY—we are in the process of calling for mediation on the way to arbitration, or to file a lawsuit to bring our two of five partners to heel.
•Windham Ski, Poconos, NY—we are moving ahead with the owner on a venture.

 There really is something to be said of the ‘Art of the Deal’ in getting these pre-2008 projects to a point that it makes sense for Star to either buy, venture or market and sell.

Or, to say it another way, if one wants a current deal, ready to go save registration, etc, then if it existed pre-2008 it’s got a lot of ‘hair’ on it. Congratulations are due to the owner for keeping it alive these past nine years [or more]. But that means the debt is turned upside down and the approvals, still valid, may have changed over the years.

So, onward Star goes. For a Western-based company St. Simons is a long way to go. But, a deal is a deal.

Catching Up with Carl: October 2016

What does it take to get a project under contract, or a 'deal done'?

This has been an agonizing period for Star. We've added to our team Duane Gerenser for the Northeast and Marvin Rappaport for the Southeast and the Pacific Coast. Duane is a real pro when it comes to negotiation and deal structure. In addition to negotiating, Marvin is a pro when it comes to finances. Both bring skills to Star where Scott Tracy and I are already stretched, so their participation expands our bandwidth tremendously.

Once we get a project [Saratoga Polo, Saratoga Springs, NY; Ocean Lodge, St. Simons Island, GA; or Marina Point, Big Bear, CA] under contract and funded, then our Chris Cannon can swing into action on marketing and lead generation.

At the end of the day, lead generation, based on solid marketing research, is still the key to success. Sales—the turning of a paper contract into cash—is still the 'name of the game' big time! Star has accepted its role in marketing and sales, to include the risk side of the business and its role in a project's life.

It's kind of like raising money. Some folk like to 'ask for the order' and others like to cultivate. Star has a network of sales pros who like to 'ask for the order' to close sales at a project.

Star’s legacy is getting the sales made and closed. That’s where our Scott Tracy comes in—the closing part. Among his other key skills, he excels at escrows and closings. That’s the key step in converting a piece of paper to cash. Without that step there is no resort development business. Scott also is key to project management, another skill set that’s important to any project.

For sales, or getting the sales made, we have a group of experienced and skilled project sales managers [and project managers for that matter] that are available based on their time and our project. That’s what 30 years in the business does for you. And one needs to treat these skilled professional right, so they want to come back to the next project.

More next month…

Catching Up with Carl: September 2016

The good news is that deals are flowing again. The difficult news is that any project that hung on over the past decade is out of money. As usual, money is tough to raise these days, or any day. The most difficult money to raise is the front money to get a marketing/lead generation and sales program going. It really needs to be secured by ‘something’ more than the reputation of the marketing and selling group—in this case, Star Resort Group LLC.

We have a handful of ‘deals’ working:

Saratoga Polo, NY, is still entangled with legal issues, though Duane Gerenser and Mike Connor [Connor Homes] have both done a terrific job in keeping our interests alive.

Windham Mountain Resort. Windham is an established New England ski hill. The owner of the ski hill [plus major base lodge and condo buildings] just died. We have targeted 300+ acres adjacent, and ski-in/ski-out on the Windham ski runs for a venture with its owner, a Greek shipping magnate. Not sure where this will end up—with the whole thing or the 300+ acres we’ve gone after.

Ocean Lodge, Saint Simons Island, GA. This 15-unit boutique hotel, top flight, was set for timeshare. Our team, augmented by Marvin Rappaport, as recommended a change to 1/12 fraction, flex use, and we are working through the details of a marketing contract.

Marina Point, Big Bear Lake, CA, is a major project at Big Bear Lake, which has traditionally played second fiddle to Arrowhead Lake, but recently gained critical mass to surpass Arrowhead. With Marvin Rappaport as well as Peter Teming we are in the process of determining whether to go for a condo hotel, mixed-use [fractions and whole] or some other configuration. The key will be who pays for amenities such as the marina, clubhouse, etc.

Mahalee, Markleeville, CA. Located in Alpine County, 30 minutes to both Kirkwood Mountain Resort and to South Lake Tahoe, this project, inn, condos and fractions is now—after more than 20 years—fully approved and needing cash to proceed. Tom Abdoo, the developer, has to be congratulated for his tenacity in sticking to the vision. We are assessing the viability of the structure and may or may not take a position in the project.

Fairmont Heritage Place at Ghirardelli Square, San Francisco. We spoke to the first in line to buy the remaining inventory. Money again. We have offered our services to ‘clean up’ the fractions assuming he closes. Art Spaulding, crack real estate lawyer at Cox Castle and Nicholson, is involved for the financing and CA DRE approvals, not to mention what the City and County of San Francisco may say.

Any two or three of these will do just fine.

Catching Up with Carl: August 2016

Boy, deals are hard to close if you want to ‘do it right.’

Saratoga Polo, in New York state, still lingers as we get the documentation correct. The good news is that the polo season is progressing grandly thanks to Jim Rossi and Mike Bucci, who have managed this process for a number of years. Record crowds and grand polo. Duane Gerenser heads our team there.

Ocean Lodge, on St. Simon’s Island off the Georgia coast: Our proposal to change from timesharing to fractions is still in process. Owner Joe McDonough and project director Ken Cates are working over the proposal sent by the team of myself, Marvin Rappaport and Scott Tracy.

Big Bear Lake, California: Marina Point is unfortunately in the general area of all the fires. We have a proposal on the table with the owner to build out seven of the buildings with a total of 49 two-bedroom, lock-off units to fractionalize. There’s a sudden interest in a hotel component, as well as a real market for whole units, too. We will get to that in the second step. This also is with Marvin Rappaport, Scott Tracy and myself as the team.

Markleeville, California: Located in the Sierra Nevada mountains about half an hour from South Lake Tahoe, this is a project 19 years in the making. Scott Tracy and I are leading the team, and are working with Dick Ragatz on the project appraisal and funding.

Then, there’s Windham, New York, a very successful four-seasons resort area north of NYC. Adjacent to the ski area is 340 acres ready for development. We have met with the owner, who is currently in Greece, and his team, and see this as a follow on to Saratoga Springs. Again, Duane Gerenser heads our team for this potential deal.

Lest we forget there’s Tunisia, which is currently in limbo due to illness and replacement of ministers in the country.

Catching Up with Carl: June-July 2016

   The art of the deal: My team has been living with that ‘art’ for the past 60 days on our Saratoga Springs Polo project. We’ve had to say goodbye to two of our five partners and replace them with two more. That negotiation has been the ‘art’ of the deal. Duane Gerenser has led the process and done a great job.

   These approximately 100 units comprised of single-family detached Connor Homes, condominiums in 4- and 5-plex buildings and a single townhouse building of some 30 units that we plan to offer on a fractional basis make up the inventory.

   The units will be mixed-use for sure. And, contrary to our history, we believe the majority will be residential, either first homes or homeowners moving up or down in square footage.

   The Whitney Polo field will be kept. In fact, the season is on-going right now. The polo ponies are churning up the sod and the polo ball is being smashed left and right.

Lots of deals perking; limited money as in the past few years. So, if one or two come our way, we’re in business in addition to Saratoga Springs and St. Simons Island:

•Big Bear Lake, Harbor Pointe, CA: This neat project 19 years in the making to gain approvals should be a home run. We are needing financing for the take-out, and Dick Ragatz has his hand in this one.

•Ocean Lodge, St. Simons Isle, GA: A timeshare project that needs a lender take out. Good team in place, and a terrific developer, Joe McDonald.

   Marvin Rappaport, our colleague in Coral Gables, FL, is assisting us on the two projects above. As a matter of fact, years ago he was a camp counselor at Big Bear!

•Markleeville, CA: It’s been 20 years in the making to gain approvals for the Mahalee Lodge, half an hour from South Lake Tahoe and Kirkwood ski area. Dick Ragatz is again involved. The project involves a wonderful condo lodge and lots of housing on some 700 acres; lots of fractional interests, too. The main market is Silicon Valley.

•Windham Ski Resort, NY, has about 300 acres for purchase next to a very successful ski hill operation, major lodge and associated homes and condos. We are working with the owner on a venture.

•Frigate Bay, Caribbean: Upscale island location featuring $1 million fractions. Whew!

•SnowValley Resort, Tunisia: Can’t forget this one—the world ski and summer resort will get going once financing is in place.

Catching Up with Carl: May 2016

Summer is about upon us. Time to get deals closed up.

Saratoga Springs polo site: We are before the city planning board for our specific site plan later this month. We've had a breakthrough with a local bank on existing project loans, which allows Saratoga Springs Polo LLC [SPA LLC] to move ahead and get underway. I'll be there, again, the first week of June.

St. Simons Island Ocean Lodge is moving ahead in good form. Bill Ward, Ward Financial, is working with the ownership team to redo the existing project financing to accommodate buyer loans on a basis that makes more sense to a rapid sell out.

Tunisia Sports City: This very adventuresome project, which includes an indoor ski hill and many other sport venues plus lots of condos and fractional condos, continues to pick up steam. The Dubai financing fund is an investor. South Africa's Denise Walker, who is in charge of project marketing, and CEO Tom Stewart are the main kingpins of the deal. Star is to do the sales.

Big Bear Lake, CA: Marina Point, the Marina Village that owner Irv Okovita has spent 20 years getting zoned, is ready for purchase and selling. The property is right on the lake and comes with a marina. Peter Moore, from Corporate Finance Associates, and I will be at the property on May 28th to see about a proposal to purchase the development.

Lots going on as one can see. Star needs to close on at least two if not four of the projects to take us into 2017 and beyond.

Catching Up with Carl: April 2016

Star recently began working with Ocean Lodge and SeaGate Condominiums, both on St. Simons Island off the Georgia coast. Ocean Lodge is a very successful boutique hotel. Knowing the lodge’s 14 rooms would be only the start of his fractional program, owner Joe McDonough optioned the nearby, 24-room SeaGate, which is run as a condominium/hotel. McDonough also optioned the two houses between the projects, which will be demolished to create a solid and visible connection between the two buildings.

McDonough had Baker & Hostetler in Orlando, Florida, draw up the basic docs, then had an Atlanta-based firm conform them to Georgia law. Georgia is a disclosure state versus a registration state. Ocean Lodge has been accepted by The Registry Collection.

Star is to be project manager with an override on sales and a percentage of net sales as an incentive. This is a grand opportunity.

Star is also working on a project on Sea Island, Georgia, located next door to St. Simons Island. Randy Burgess is the project director who will complete sales of the ¼-share fractional program begun pre-recession, put on the shelf and recently restarted. The Sea Island project is much different than Ocean Lodge/SeaGate, so there should not be much, if any, competition between the two.

Back to Saratoga Springs: The appraisal came in lower than expected, so the bridge loan was not taken down. The project is still limping forward with severe cash flow needs. That said, one of the five partners is Mike Connor, founder of Connor Homes of Middlebury, VT, and early advocate of factory-built, quality homes. One of his homes is being featured on PBS' This Old House for 2016 and Connor is getting over 7,000 leads per week!

The project, Saratoga Polo, will link to Connor Homes to gain additional traction for sales. Additionally, real estate group Keller Williams Capital District will have a co-listing on phase one of the project. Many of the sales will likely be whole units, first and second homes. We've carved out a deck of units for fractional sales in 2017.

Tunisia, you say? Star has been approached to handle sales of SnowValley Resort, a North African mega-project. The drivers behind it are South African–based marketing executives Tom Stewart, from Scotland, and Denise Walker. There will be indoor skiing and a whole list of indoor winter sports to include ski cross, aerial events, halfpipe, slalom, snow tubing, ice skating, curling, long and short track skating, figure skating and ice hockey. Summer sports academies will include tennis, swimming and diving, gymnastics, basketball, indoor soccer, taekwondo, weight lifting and much more.

This project, should it come to pass as planned, is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Oh, and it will include whole and fractional condos. That's Star's play.

Catching Up with Carl: February/March 2016

This is a combined newsletter as I missed February. No, the one extra day did not get me off track; just busy with deals and other stuff.

Saratoga Spa Polo is my main focus. With 100 units, we estimate that the majority will be first or second homes, whole units. We plan to keep about 20 units of the 100 aside for fractions.

The project was originally planned, just before the recession, to be 100 percent fractions. Saratoga Springs has picked up so much steam that a few years later there’s a lot of movement up from Albany [the state capital] 30 minutes away for those who want culture and to be closer to the outdoors. And,Saratoga Springs is a real draw in itself. 

We assume, supported by local brokers, that those either downsizing or upsizing will be the primary, first home market. The second home, or pre-retirement market, may come from neighbor communities nationally or internationally due to the polo exposure.

As the property abuts up to Skidmore College, we expect a good play from its alumni. Skidmore has a collegiate polo team, one of some 140 colleges with a team. And, a polo field is 9.5 times larger than a football field, so there’s quite a green belt.

Note: partner Mike Connor, of Connor Home, has a 12-part program on This Old House on PBS featuring a Connor home.

We held a focus group comprised of local Keller Williams agents a few weeks ago. We had a lead agent servicing the 30s market, the same for 40s and 50/60s markets, in addition to the ‘boss’ who owns the KW franchise for the Capital Corridor area. They were very high on the first and second home markets for whole units. We did not get into fractionals with them.

We plan to have single-family detached homes; duplexes (though not the typical type—ours will have a main house and then a ‘carriage’ house, with some larger and smaller so one can buy either or one or the other); and then condos in a four-plex configuration.

The property has a commercial zone, so we are planning a small inn with community pool, workout facility, café, etc. to cover that part of the amenities. And yes, the polo matches will still go on in the summer as they have since 1898. 

Catching Up with Carl: January 2016

Just back a theater trip in NYC and sloshing around in the big snowstorm.

Saratoga Springs Polo project is coming along just fine. Our key partner, Duane Gerenser, who lives about an hour from the site, is project director.

 I was there two weeks ago and will be there the week after next. All five partners in our development team are dedicated and talented folk. Mike Connor, CEO of Connor Homes of Middlebury, Vermont, is designing our prototype homes, duplexes and condos. Mike Bucci and Jim Rossi, who own the property, have run the polo season on the historical polo field for a decade. Duane Gerenser is project director and partner; and I am handling the development, marketing and selling part of the project. All the minutia involved in MOUs, LLCs and the operating agreement have taken time but are integral to the project.

We'll end up with about 100 units for sale. Our goal is to do 15 to 20 as fractional, which involves a separate filing with New York State.

Two weeks ago I made a quick trip to Aspen to see the World Championships of Snow Polo. Very interesting and highly entertaining—both the polo and the fans from around the world. St. Regis was the main sponsor.

The Saratoga Polo Association is comprised of 42 acres that surround the polo field, established in 1898 by the Vanderbilt and Whitney families. Our group has not only bought the 42 acres for development abutting Skidmore College, but also an operating company the produces the annual (since 1898) polo matches on the summer east coast circuit that begins in Florida and comes up to Saratoga, with stops in the Carolinas, Virginia and Westchester, NY, before landing in Saratoga Springs, which is a quite amazing city with year-around arts programming, the historic race track and over 130 restaurants.

Other stuff? Chasing San Francisco fractions, a deck of Canadian projects funded by a Calgary bank, and the uber high-end Caribbean fractional deal that seems to have a difficult time in coming together.

The two Florida Keys projects that we chased for many years have not come to us, I am sorry to say. More next month.

Catching Up with Carl: December 2015

Pushing to get the deal done: Saratoga Springs, NY, 30 minutes north of Albany, the state capital.

The iconic polo field, established in 1898 and still in use today, encompasses 42 acres. Development plans call for approximately 80 units, cottages and homes surrounding the field, plus an Events Barn and transient, overnight lodging units all to join the existing clubhouse replete with trophies, silver cups and lots of history. 

Star is venturing, and in charge of marketing and selling, with sellers Jim Rossi and Mike Bucci, both very talented guys, as well as Duane Gerenser and Mike Connor of Connor Homes in Middlebury, VT.

Saratoga Springs, five miles from Saratoga and the historic Revolutionary battlefield, National Monument, was established in 1819 and has a glorious history. Saratoga Springs was the first big spa town in the USA, at one time the site of the world’s largest hotel, and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center is still the summer home of the Philadelphia Symphony and the New York City Ballet company. 

Like many early attractions, the town fell asleep post-WWII and then woke up some decades ago and got back on track.

The thoroughbred racetrack is run by the New York Racing Association and follows the Triple Crown. The racetrack is considered to be in the top four of all racetracks in America.

The harness racing season is also long standing and well attended. It is adjacent to the Saratoga Casino, which offers all electronic gaming. The proceeds go to the Saratoga schools and the harness racing purses.

Then, of course, there’s polo. William Collins Whitney [that’s right, those Whitneys] established the polo field a mile from downtown in 1898. On the major circuit for polo in the USA, its season draws the world’s most elite polo players. The original legal entity is still in place and owned by our group: Saratoga Polo Association, or SPA for short.

The development plans, as now set, call for approximately 80 homes/cottages surrounding two sides of the field with commercial on the third side. The acreage abuts Skidmore College, which is home to one of 140 collegiate polo teams. 

Catching Up with Carl: November 2015

Dick Ragatz and his realty-sales operation is paying off. We are looking at two projects he represents.

One is an iconic property in mid-New York State and the other in San Francisco. We are working on the financing and feasibility of both. The New York State project is easier for us to get closed as all approvals are in place, and it's smaller and hence less money to raise. I’m currently flying to the Albany, New York, airport to get 'boots on the ground' for this deal. Mixed use; lots, Connor homes, townhomes and fractional homes.

Our team stands ready to get to work. Scott Tracy, our broker and director of administration; Chris Cannon, our senior marketing exec; and Richard Korowicki, our senior sales exec.

We are also working on a very high-end whole and fractional project on a private Caribbean island. Will the upper-crust buy $1 million fractions? We think so, and are guardedly optimistic.

For the New York project, Star would be a developer; for the Caribbean, a marketing agent. I sometimes wonder which is the most advantageous. What do you think?

Connor Homes of Middlebury, Vermont, is an interesting evolution. This is the high-end manufactured home company with over 100,000 square feet under roof and a long history of quality New England-style homes. Mike Connor is the founder and still CEO.

Currently, they are being filmed by the PBS program This Old House. Recently, via an Atlanta architect, they fabricated 30 cottages to be sent to the Cabela's project in the Ozarks. As their reputation grows, they are looking to 'brand' projects with their homes. For our New England area projects, we have an exclusive deal with Connor. Yes, a bit more expensive than 'toss it up' stick built, but higher quality and we bet the market will pay a bit more for a Connor home.

On the money front, Peter Moore, from Corporate Finance Associates out of Portland, Maine, is our key man for funding all our projects. He's a real talent. 

Catching Up with Carl: October 2015

Back from hiking 110 miles in England. Grand stuff, good weather for all but two of the days, and fun times in London pre and post hike.

Star is now fully disengaged from Seahorse Beach Club on the Texas coast. Personally, I’m still on one of the home loans, but that will take care of itself.

Burnt Mill, Maine, continues to be tough to tie down. The owners, the L.A. folk, are reexamining all options. On our side, we have put together options to take them out. We’ll see what happens in the coming days. One change is that the golf course is being reimagined as a nature park, which means less money to build and sustain, and easier to fund.

Peter Moore, our investment banker, continues to show a great amount of flexibility in arranging the various elements for full financing. His job is now made easier that the golf course is becoming a nature preserve.

Connor Homes of Middlebury, Vermont, is more than ever the primary homebuilder—and home designer—that we are placing our bets on for an upscale project. Founder Mike Connor has been very forthcoming with his time and talents to assist with the strategy for the resort.

Crystal Resort, in the Florida Keys, also continues as a moving target. Will it be a full timeshare resort, fee for service, with a brand, or a PRC or workforce housing? Gosh, a prime parcel with about $8 million equity, no debt, and it seems so hard to get the right investor.

On the horizon:

•Kauai project, single-family homes to be fractioned; sales on the West Coast, Honolulu and on site. Mitch Imanaka and Steve Peterson are designing the strategy for sales and registration. First things first, the developer needs to get the purchase agreement fully signed and then funded. Bill Ward, of Ward Financial, is very positive on buyer financing.

•Barbuda Island, Caribbean: Lighthouse Bay Resort, very, very high-end fractions; selling at over $1 million per 6th. Heavy U.S., European and South American sell. This is a fly-to island, private plane, and the property’s all bought and designed.

Other stuff over the transom, but not worth mentioning. In other news, Tom Goetschius has a new website designed by Marc Saxe. Take a look:www.tomgoetschius.com. 

Catching Up with Carl: September 2015

Some deals come and some go as we all know.

We are nearing the end of September and Burnt Mill in Maine is not yet funded with the bridge loan, yet the golf course work has to begin by October 15th. It takes balls of steel to be a developer.

Of import, the owners have realigned their decision-making, so we now have a real pragmatic person in charge. That’s terrific. Peter Moore, our investment banker, is close to the bridge and the permanent loan. The October 15th date is fast upon us!

Florida for Crystal Cove is, on one hand, leaning toward at full TS fee-for-service project, and on the other a 34-unit PRC, which we at SRG favor. We’ve been canvassing the major TS companies to see who is most interested, or has the bandwidth to consider the fee-for-service opportunity.

Then, there’s Seahorse in Texas that we are now out of; too many conflicts with our partner.

Spoke with Tom Ward of Ward Financial recently about end loans for fractional buyers. He says that there’s money out there for end loans. He just needs a well-structured project with sales velocity to attract a lender.

Other deals that could be on the horizon: The Sanctuary at Frigate Bay, Caribbean, a posh, small island with luxe houses and condos to be built; fractions at $1 million to $2 million a share. Now, that may just be a deal.

There's a ULI meeting in San Francisco in a few weeks; my Recreational Development Council is having an update on fractions, and I’m hiking in England. Darn it. Maybe they’ll hold over to the next meeting in Spring 2016!

Kauai project? The Ragatz study is completed and the developer wants to break all conventions and sell fractions on America's West Coast: CA, OR, WA and BC. Will it work? It just might.

Hiking in England from September 26th to October 13th with a couple of days in London pre and post. The South Downs Way, 110 miles in 10 days for us. Inn to inn. What’s not to like?

Catching Up with Carl: August 2015

We are working diligently all this month on our deals.

Burnt Mill, Maine, has slowed down due to bankers being on vacation during August. How old fashioned! But, it is as it is. All in place for a term sheet and bridge loan to get us going. The Wells Planning Board has changed some definitions on the approvals, but we’re working through it.

The golf portion has been the most difficult to obtain via our investment banker, Peter Moore. The real estate [lot sales] and hospitality have been easier.

We are certainly ready to go and get into the first phase, residential sales, this winter for the local market of Wells, Maine, and the surrounding area.

Crystal, Marathon Key, Florida, is currently in the process of being acquired from the owner, and then one of two plans will go into effect. Star will assist with either:

   Plan A. a full timeshare resort with a brand selling it.

   Plan B. a PRC using the 34 Rogos that came with the old motel.

Florida Keys Resort, Marathon Key, Florida. I made a quick trip last week to plan with the owners, Index and Peter Rosasco, for fractional sales. What a beautiful place it is. I had not been there in a year. We are still planning on detached cottages, but also looking at six-plex units, which may be lower cost to build and certainly a lower price to sell.

First things first, though, and that’s a branding process, which has not yet been done to determine who the resort will cater to and that will have a great effect on what is built for fractional sales. Hopefully, we can move the owners ahead on this initiative as it’s key to the overall success of the hotel, golf, fractions, etc.

New Deals?

   1. Kauai, a much touted deal, Ragatz study complete; non-waterfront, cottages to be fractioned on 1/12th with some substantial areas to be cleared up.

   2. New Orleans, Square 97 is back again, as a full condo plan subject to zoning okay.

Catching Up with Carl: July 2015

The middle of the summer is here.

Star Resort Group has news:

   1.  The principals of SRG, Rich Feldheim and Carl Berry, have agreed to separate and pursue their own projects.

   2.  SRG is now a Montana LLC solely owned by Carl Berry.

   3.  SRG is in the process of terminating its partner position in Seahorse Beach Club due to differing goals to pricing and absorption.

   4.  SRG is closing in on two major projects: Burnt Mill in Southern Maine, a mixed-use, residential, rental and fractional community of some 173 units, and Crystal [new name TBD], a high end PRC + mixed-use residential on Marathon Key, Florida.

Both of the new deals have had a protracted birthing process. Financing has been key to both, but that is well underway.

It used to be that Star was paid to come into a project. Since 2008 and the recession it seems that Star has to contribute to be in the ‘deal.’ That’s been a drag on the company’s finances.

Our crack team: Scott Tracy, company broker and senior administration exec, Chris Cannon, our top marketing exec, and Richard Korowicki, our senior sales exec, are all ready to go on the new projects.

2016 will be the year the company makes money; first since 2007!

Catching Up with Carl: June 2015

It's mid-June. My home airport now is Glacier Park International near Kalispell, Montana. So, business trip are out of FCA versus San Francisco or Oakland. Our 20th summer in northwest Montana!

I continue to worry about our Seahorse Beach Club on the Texas Gulf Coast, outside of Houston. That area has been hammered with rain, as you have read, and in general, rain aside for the moment, the weather has been truly lousy. How the six million residents of Houston put up with the weather is beyond me. The rain fact has impeded sales dramatically.

On our way from the SF Bay Area to Montana we spent the night in Bend, Oregon, and had a delightful dinner with our Seahorse consultant Tiffany Clark and her husband, Cameron.

At the end of this month, I am heading up to Wells, Maine, to attempt a close on the Burnt Mill project. All is about ready for a launch this fall with financing coming along on schedule. Could I get any farther away from home in California?

Then, on the Crystal project in Marathon Key, Florida Keys: My mentor, Marvin Rappaport, is awash in 'deals' for the property. It seems that there's a never-ending line of qualified investors or investment companies. Right now the concept that seems to generate the most traction is the full condominium/whole/residential/transient/fractional program versus the hotel and fractional cottages.  The final 'winner' of the financing will determine the build-out.

I attended the Urban Land Institute meeting in Houston in between rainstorms. Chris Fair gave a very interesting report on his firm's study of Millennials—how they differ, and where they don't, from Gen Xers and the younger boomers. The bottom line is that after they marry and have a family they are pretty much like other buyers of resort real estate. Yes, there's the sharing philosophy and the 'why buy anything' attitude while single that has been so widely reported.

For sure, as we have known, the Xers and Millennials want to use the electronic media more than the boomers, they want to do their own research, and they don't need a fancy sales center.

Catching Up with Carl: May 2015

Here we are heading again to summertime. Our view of the economy? Still struggling to right itself under the burden of Federal debt and regulations. So, we look at each day as two falls out of three, as the expression goes, to make sales.

Seahorse Beach Club, outside of Houston on the Gulf, remains very sluggish due to pricing and the energy retraction in Houston. I'd like to say we have a roaring success at Seahorse, but that's not true. Sales have been like pulling teeth. We still believe in the project and the homes we have built, but buyers have been few and far between and the overall market slow.

On to Marathon Key and Crystal Cottages: Project financing for the Marriott Residence Inn and fractional cottage construction is almost put to bed. The partners have so much equity in the deal that it's almost harder to get the financing we want versus what we might have to take in another scenario.
What about fractions? There have been few successes in the past year, although the assumptions behind the product remain strong. The good news is that as prices for whole homes continue to raise that makes a fractional interest look all the better.

The Florida Keys remain a hot market, so these Gulf-front cottages should be a winner.

This week, our team descends on the Burnt Mill project in Wells, Maine, to get a firm grasp of the marketing and selling issues. We have retained a first-class loan broker to arrange funds for even the golf course (gulp), a tough finance these days.

Other potential deals continue to swarm around us: Sunset Boulevard in LA, Big Bear Lake in Southern California, Telluride, Colorado, and the like. Will any come to pass? It's a combination of time and energy, and of course money.

Star has redone its website, so take a look: www.starresortgroup.com.