Virgil, NY – Central New York State’s Greek Peak Mountain Resort has been sold to a pair of Elmira, N.Y. businessmen for $6.76 million.
Marc Stemerman, 42, and John Meier, 43, were the winning bidders at an auction of Greek Peak’s assets on Tuesday, and on Thursday a federal bankruptcy judge in Syracuse approved the sale. Closing of the sale is expected to take place in mid-April. The deal includes not only the ski area, but also the resort’s recently constructed indoor water park and Hope Lake Lodge, both of which paid a substantial role in the amassing of an estimated $47 million by the resort’s current owner.
Stemerman and Meier, who have no previous experience owning or running a ski resort, were among four interested parties bidding for the resort at Tuesday’s auction. They say that after the current owners spent money building Hope Lake Lodge and the water park, they now want to turn their attention to necessary upgrades and enhancements on the ski hill, with their initial focus on snowmaking and general maintenance. They hope to add a high-speed quad at the resort within the next few years. Their first move is to cut season pass prices to $299.
Listing $12.9 million in assets, Greek Peak’s owners filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August. Their financial woes were compounded by the January 2012 failure of the resort’s primary lender, Tennessee Commerce Bank, of Franklin, Tenn. U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) even stepped in to urge the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to find an alternative source of credit funding for the resort when operations for the 2012-13 ski and snowboard season appeared to be in doubt.