Coalville Community Development Director Don Sargent said at a July city council meeting that Wohali has pressed pause on construction.
“They're still trying to sort out some things there. Not sure all the details and what's going on. I'm really not involved,” he told Coalville city councilmembers in a routine update July 14.
Four lawsuits filed over the past two months allege the golf resort community has stopped paying some of its bills to creditors and contractors.
One of the suits alleges Wohali has defaulted on a multimillion-dollar loan from foreign investors.
It says the resort “has essentially ceased work on the Wohali project and has laid off almost all employees, with the exception of a small group of employees who are supposed to be maintaining the golf course.” The investors claim a drone flown over the land appeared to show construction had stopped.
Besides a golf course, the 5,000-acre Wohali resort includes private backcountry terrain and luxury homes.
But foreign investors claim in the July 9 lawsuit that Wohali Land Estates LLC owes them $85.4 million, including interest. They say they haven’t received payment since October 2024.
The loan was executed through the federal EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, which allows investors to obtain green cards by investing in United States businesses.
It’s the same loan program Powder Mountain used for a previous expansion. Netflix founder Reed Hastings inherited the debt when he bought a majority stake in the northern Utah ski resort in 2023 and now he also faces a multimillion-dollar lawsuit from investors.
The most recent lawsuit against Wohali was filed Wednesday, July 23, by the solar panel company Eave Solar. It says Wohali refused to pay the contractor for installing solar panels on its properties and is seeking nearly half a million dollars, plus interest.
Construction equipment retailer ICM Solutions sued for $75,000 plus interest July 3. Knight Trucking sued for $119,000 plus interest June 20.
Court records show Wohali had not filed responses to any of the four lawsuits.
The office of land use attorney Wade Budge, who has represented the resort in other matters, declined to comment July 25.
A phone call to Wohali’s main line also rang indefinitely July 25, and an email from KPCW seeking comment from David Boyden, one of the resort’s founding partners was not returned.
The lawsuits against Wohali come on the heels of another legal fight between the two other founding partners: Thomas Cottone and John Kaiser. Cottone sued Kaiser and his associate Matthew Galioto for defamation in January, also alleging financial mismanagement in his lawsuit.
Kaiser and Galioto have asked 3rd District Judge Richard Mrazik to dismiss the lawsuit, and the judge is scheduled to hear the matter Nov. 18.
