"Central Oregon Resorts Struggle." Bulletin, 5/20/12.
Well, that's one way of putting it.
Really, if you think about it, there are only two kinds of destination resorts since 2002. Those that who died aborning and those that were never born.
Three resorts actually had some building, though only a small fraction of what they planned. Two of them, Tetherow and Pronghorn, have been foreclosed on. Brasada Ranch did a little construction, but has been sold off. If you'll notice the dates, these resorts had the fortune (good or bad?) of starting a year or two earlier than the following:
The Metolian, Ponderosa, Remington Ranch, Crossing Trails, Hidden Canyon, which never got off the ground.
It was nuts to think they could build this many resorts, this many fancy units. It was nuts for the local officials to believe the hotel units would ever be built. It was nuts to end up with 30 golf courses -- despite the fact that most of the golf courses for the above resorts weren't even built!
So what else is new?
Well, the reason I'm writing this post is that I vowed to never let comments like the following go unchallenged:
"Few could have guessed in the mid-2000s what sort of devastation the end of the decade would bring to the housing market, not just in Central Oregon but around the world."
I suppose it's an improvement that they say "Few could have guessed...." instead of "No one could have guessed..." but the sentiment is the same. In fact, the whole slant of the article is that the resorts were "victims" of negative "psychology."
I'll just keep pointing out, a bunch of us did actually see this coming. It wasn't bad luck which caused this collapse.
No, it was bad planning.
Notice that the Bulletin says the problem is the "housing market." Wait. I thought these were "destination resorts" not subdivisions?
But we all know that's exactly what they were....
By the way, nothing could have been better for my business than to have these resorts succeed. Being in downtown Bend, I can't tell you the number of times a customer has told me they are staying at Sunriver, Black Butte, or Eagle Crest. These are the prime type of customers for a downtown tourist zone.
So....maybe one more resort, maybe with the same numbers of completed units as the above 9 resorts -- that would have been great....
Well, that's one way of putting it.
Really, if you think about it, there are only two kinds of destination resorts since 2002. Those that who died aborning and those that were never born.
Three resorts actually had some building, though only a small fraction of what they planned. Two of them, Tetherow and Pronghorn, have been foreclosed on. Brasada Ranch did a little construction, but has been sold off. If you'll notice the dates, these resorts had the fortune (good or bad?) of starting a year or two earlier than the following:
The Metolian, Ponderosa, Remington Ranch, Crossing Trails, Hidden Canyon, which never got off the ground.
It was nuts to think they could build this many resorts, this many fancy units. It was nuts for the local officials to believe the hotel units would ever be built. It was nuts to end up with 30 golf courses -- despite the fact that most of the golf courses for the above resorts weren't even built!
So what else is new?
Well, the reason I'm writing this post is that I vowed to never let comments like the following go unchallenged:
"Few could have guessed in the mid-2000s what sort of devastation the end of the decade would bring to the housing market, not just in Central Oregon but around the world."
I suppose it's an improvement that they say "Few could have guessed...." instead of "No one could have guessed..." but the sentiment is the same. In fact, the whole slant of the article is that the resorts were "victims" of negative "psychology."
I'll just keep pointing out, a bunch of us did actually see this coming. It wasn't bad luck which caused this collapse.
No, it was bad planning.
Notice that the Bulletin says the problem is the "housing market." Wait. I thought these were "destination resorts" not subdivisions?
But we all know that's exactly what they were....
By the way, nothing could have been better for my business than to have these resorts succeed. Being in downtown Bend, I can't tell you the number of times a customer has told me they are staying at Sunriver, Black Butte, or Eagle Crest. These are the prime type of customers for a downtown tourist zone.
So....maybe one more resort, maybe with the same numbers of completed units as the above 9 resorts -- that would have been great....