Once a gold standard example of a destination that got both skiing and golf absolutely right, New Hampshire’s fabled, palatial, and refined Balsams Resort is primed for a comeback.
Dormant for ten years in bankruptcy, skiing financier and developer Les Otten has announced his intention to reopen the ski area next season (2022-23). A new hotel is anticipated to come on line in the summer of 2024. The Conway Sun has this excellent breakdown of the money trail here. It all starts with majority owner of the new Lake Gloriette House Hotel, the Provident Resources Group, according to reports a non-profit corporation. From their article:
“Construction of the new hotel would be financed through tax-exempt bonds which would be sold to institutional investors. Otten said Goldman Sachs has agreed to act as the proposed underwriter for the placement of the tax-exempt bonds. While details of the project are still being worked out, the draft resolution indicated Provident could be seeking up to $115 million in revenue bonds in total on the project. Under legislation approved in 2019, the Coos County commissioners are authorized to issue the revenue bonds for unincorporated places like Dixville. A tax assessment financing district would be established and the bonds will be repaid through assessments generated by the district.”
Donald Ross, a titan of golf course architecture designed the resort’s Panorama Course in 1912. Dixville Notch, one of the northernmost locales in America, has long held the honor of being America’s first votes cast for president every four years. We’ll follow this story here and in our Border War series.
