Shareholders of Intrawest Corp. have resoundingly endorsed the $2.8 billion sale of the company to Fortress Investment Group.
The sale, which was announced in August, was approved Tuesday by 99.9 percent of Intrawest shareholders.
In Colorado, Intrawest owns Copper Mountain and manages Winter Park Resort, where it is in the midst of building a new base village.
The first phase of the Winter Park expansion is expected to cost more than $70 million and will include 194 condominiums. The ski resort is scheduled to open Nov. 15.
Both resorts will operate as usual this winter, said Matt Sugar, communications director at Winter Park.
“We’re moving forward on business as usual until we’re told otherwise,” he said. “… We’re excited about the future with Fortress.”
Copper Mountain will open Nov. 3. Intrawest recently broke ground on a 12-unit residential development there called Union Creek Townhomes West. Prices for the 2,000- to 2,700-square- foot units range from $1.1 million to $1.6 million.
Copper will announce today that it plans to begin offsetting 100 percent of its energy use through the purchase of renewable-energy credits. It will also unveil a new restaurant in its base village, the Incline Bar & Grill.
The Fortress takeover, which required approval from two-thirds of Intrawest shareholders, is expected to close this month. New York-based Fortress is a private investment firm with $11 billion in capital.
Vancouver, British Columbia-based Intrawest has interests in eight other mountain resorts in North America, including Whistler in British Columbia and Stratton in Vermont.
In August, Intrawest and Aspen Skiing Co. announced plans to sell the $400 million redevelopment of the Snowmass Base Village to WestPac Investments, a California developer.
Staff writer Julie Dunn can be reached at 303-954-1592 or jdunn@denverpost.com.
