The CEO of the company set to build the Mayflower Mountain Resort updated he MIDA board on their progress at a meeting Tuesday.
Extell CEO Gary Barnett reported to the Military Instillation Development Authority board about the progress of the Mayflower Mountain Resort set to be built on the east side of US-40 near the Jordanelle Reservoir. Barnett says that they were close to finalizing financing for the construction of the military hotel in the Mayflower area when they were derailed by COVID-19. He says now they’re feeling ready to move forward.
“We’re cautiously looking trying to figure out how we can get started again towards moving on the MWR (military wellness and recreation) hotel,” Barnett explained. “We had accomplished a great deal construction wise on the site. 90% of the way getting done with the VCP (voluntary cleanup program) remediation. We are actually going to be planting there now, to make sure that we don’t lose any of that benefit, and don’t cause any erosion or dust”
Barnett says they also had completed some road work, retaining walls and the 1.2-million-gallon water tank. He says that’s all leading up to the buildout of the military hotel which will include 100 dedicated rooms available at a reduced rate for military as well as dedicated meeting space.
Barnett also updated the board on the long-term lease Extell agreed to with Deer Valley Resort
“A long-term lease with Deer Valley Resort for portions of the land that were owned by us and that they were skiing on as well as some additional land,” Barnett continued. “Part of this master plan for the area, our goal is to turn into a really spectacular additional resort on this side of the mountain. With direct access, cutting down on traffic and also of course increasing the amount of jobs and the amount of economic activity. We think that this could be the finest resort perhaps in North America, certainly one of the finest in the world. Our most preferred route moving forward is to connect this to Deer Valley. Have this as one integrated resort with the folks from Deer Valley, and we are certainly going to include them in discussions as we finish planning this and move down the road. But of course, it also has the ability to stand on its own, as a world class ski in ski out village and resort.”
Utah Senate President Stuart Adams sits on the MIDA board. He remained hopeful that the Mayflower Mountain Resort project will be able to secure financing at a good rate.
“The positive side of, I suppose of the virus if there is a positive side, is that interest rates have remained relatively low,” Adams said. “There’s a somewhat of an additional scrutiny on underwriting but the rates are there. So hopefully the projects, especially some of those on the East side that are in place, will have financial validity with low interest rates. So, we’ll see what happens as far as tax increment and how we do.”
Adams adds while interest rates are good, they are trending up. Members of the board and Barnett agreed to work to June 15 as a date to have details in their agreements worked out so that Extell can secure their financing.
