Developer Gerry Engle has lined up another $30 million to help Marise and Celso Cipriani transform 5,000 acres in Grand County into a recreational paradise.
Engle, known for developing high-end Cordillera in Edwards and Catamount Ranch outside Steamboat Springs, partnered with the Ciprianis three years ago on Granby Ranch, a golf and ski resort that will include about 4,000 homes. About 450 of the lots have been sold, mostly to developers.
The funding will come from a $14.75 million bond issue, a loan from Redwood Capital in San Francisco and an investment by the Divine family, which owns the Club at Crested Butte and has invested in Solstice Mount Crested Butte.
“It seemed like a natural fit, so I introduced them to Marise,” Engle said. “In these long-term projects, it’s not just about the money. It’s about the chemistry.”
Engle also has enlisted S&P Destination Properties to market the properties. Founders Sid Landolt and Peter Dupuis have generated more than 16,000 sales worth over $4 billion in the last 23 years.
Until 2000, the Vancouver, B.C.-based partners ran Sapera, an acronym for Sid and Pete’s Excellent Real Estate Adventure. That company served as the launch specialist for Intrawest Corp. from 1997 to 2000. Intrawest, which is redeveloping the nearby Winter Park ski resort, acquired Sapera for $9.7 million in 2000, and the partners formed S&P.
That company is currently working on the Trump Tower in Waikiki, Hawaii, and the Resort at Squaw Creek in California. It also has worked on the Loch Lomond Club in Scotland and the Tumble Creek Club in Washington.
As a result, S&P has a wide network of connections with brokers who are seeking homes in Colorado for potential buyers, said Jib Street, who relocated from Canada to work on the Granby Ranch project.
“It’s not where you’re selling; it’s who you’re connected to,” he said.
The ski resort was once called SilverCreek but went into bankruptcy after its owners were killed in a plane crash.
The Ciprianis bought it out of bankruptcy in 1995 for $12 million. In 2000, they renamed it SolVista Golf & Ski Ranch and tried to reposition it as a year- round family resort.
Engle borrows a line of thought from resort developer Harry Frampton to describe the development process: “The definition of a great real-estate project is one that’s finished. There are a lot of people who start these things and don’t realize how much it takes to finish.”
Staff writer Margaret Jackson can be reached at 303-820-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com.
