Derrick Penner
Sun
RESORTS I Vancouver-based Intrawest Corp. pre-sold 213 of the first 256 units it put on the market in its Florida Village of Imagine development for $83 million US to cap off what the company said was its biggest month in resort real-estate sales at $534 million US.
“Our record results in December are representative of the strong demand we continue to experience for our real estate in both mountain and warm-weather locations,” Intrawest chairman and CEO Joe Houssian said in a press release.
Intrawest’s holiday ski operations were dogged by bad weather in Whistler and a strike at its Mont Tremblant resort in Quebec. On the real estate side, however, the company launched four resort projects selling 93 per cent of the units offered, including the $425-million US sellout of the first phase in Intrawest’s Honua Kai resort on Maui.
The Village of Imagine, located in Orlando near the Orange County convention centre, is Intrawest’s second resort development in Florida following its Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort.
Intrawest also launched the Etoile du Matin project in Tremblant, Quebec and Lewis Ranch at its Copper Mountain, Colo. resort.
Houssian said the warm-weather properties will allow Intrawest to increase its annual unit-delivery rate.
“Our focus on accelerating the development of our real estate pipeline is paying off and we are confident that demographics will continue to drive demand for our real estate,” he added.
In a news release, the company said Village of Imagine is being developed as a joint venture that is owned by Orlando Village Development LP. Construction on its first phase is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2006 with completion expected in 2008. Plans call for the 12-hectare site to be developed into 1,000 condominium suites.
Intrawest shares closed at $33.77, down 12 cents in Friday trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange, which was 22.6 per cent higher than their six-month low of $27.55 reached Oct. 28.
© The Vancouver Sun 2006
