Mount Snow Turns to EB-5 Program for Expansion

News Search

24 January 2014

Push to The Latest: No

SAM Magazine--West Dover, Vt., January 24, 2014--A 120-million-gallon water storage pond for snowmaking and a new 36,000-square-foot base lodge for guest services are two of the projects Mount Snow will fund through EB-5, an immigrant investor program. The projects, newly approved under the Vermont EB-5 Regional Center, total $52 million in investments.

The West Lake Project will increase Mount Snow's current snowmaking water storage by nearly 500 percent. This increase in available water will allow Mount Snow to open more trails early in the season and recover more quickly from inclement weather. It will also bring existing water withdrawals into compliance with state and federal regulatory standards. Additional project components include three pump houses, pipelines, a new conveyor lift and other snowmaking improvements.

Carinthia Ski Lodge, a new three-story, 36,000-square-foot skier service building located at the base of the Carinthia Slopes at Mount Snow, is the first phase of a redevelopment of the Carinthia Base Area. The new lodge will include a cafeteria, restaurant, bars, retail shop, convenience store, ski/snowboard rental, ski school and ticketing. Future development at Carinthia will include more than 100 ski-in/ski-out residential units.

The EB-5 program, run by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), encourages foreign investment into approved projects that create American jobs. For each investor a minimum of 10 jobs must be created, or in some cases preserved. If the requisite number of jobs are created within two years, the investor will receive a permanent green card.

Mount Snow's offering is under the oversight of the state of Vermont EB-5 Regional Center, the only USCIS designated regional center owned, controlled and supervised directly by a state government. Vermont has a long record of successful EB-5 projects, including successful projects at Jay Peak and Sugarbush resorts.

“We are excited about the future growth and re-development at Mount Snow,” says Richard Deutsch, V.P. of Peak Resorts, the parent company of Mount Snow. “The EB-5 Program has proven it's a successful way to raise capital and create jobs. We're looking forward to bringing this success to the southern part of the state.

“This is the first phase of what we hope will be many successful projects at Mount Snow,” Deutsch continued. “With a state-approved master plan for the redevelopment of up to 900 units and 200,000 square feet of skier service space, we expect to have many future projects at Mount Snow.”