Credit Suisse wants receiver to run Idaho resort

Credit Suisse, which said in court documents reviewed Wednesday by The Associated Press that Tamarack now owes more than $273 million on what was originally a $250 million syndicated loan, wants San Diego-based receiver Douglas Wilson Cos. to step in. Douglas Wilson, also the receiver on an $11 million Hawaiian ranch formerly owned by actor Jimmy Stewart, specializes in running ski- and golf-resort real estate, according to the company.

Judge Patrick H. Owen, who rejected bankers' initial push for a receiver in July, set a hearing for next Wednesday.

An architect who reviewed Tamarack's unfinished Village Plaza construction site in September concluded inclement weather descending on the region 90 miles north of Boise could cause severe damage--despite efforts by existing management to winterize the project. Credit Suisse consultant William Selvage said work costing between $4 million and $8 million is needed, significantly more than the $250,000 Tamarack plans to spend, according to court documents.

"Those efforts were merely 'band aid' or temporary efforts that will not be sufficient to preserve and protect the village buildings going forward and will result in substantial degradation, damage and depreciation," said Selvage, according to court documents. "The more time that passes ... the more expensive the work will be."

In late September, Credit Suisse submitted a plan to extend a $10 million loan to the receiver, should one be appointed. The money would fund a 90-day budget, including winterization expenses and the cost of starting up the ski hill, the bank said.

Jean-Pierre Boespflug, the resort's chief executive and largest owner at 50.6 percent, has said he believes steps being overseen by Sean Donovan, the director of Tamarack construction, will be adequate to protect Village Plaza buildings that are still about $75 million short of completion.

Those measures include installing glycol pipe insulation to prevent freezing; ensuring drainage is working, to prevent intrusion of water; and protecting construction materials that remain at the Village Plaza site after construction ground to a halt last year.

"We are working on another layer of winterizing the village," Ken Rider, a resort spokesman, said Wednesday. "The contractors of record have given us an effective solution on what they feel would winterize the village for this coming winter."

Rider said no new information was available about efforts by Boespflug and Alfredo Miguel, who owns 26 percent of Tamarack, to find new investors to pay mounting debts. They've pledged to find a buyer by the end of October.