Closing is expected in the fourth quarter of this year, but there’s no guarantee the deal will go through, says a planner associated with the new Highlands development. If the two companies do indeed become one, the book will close on the often nasty, 36-year-old rivalry that has stifled joint marketing proposals and such conveniences as a combination lift ticket for guests and four-mountain season passes for locals.
The union also marks the demise of one of the remaining family-owned ski areas, $30 lift tickets for Aspen and a funky alternative to ASC.
But there are plenty of “ifs” involving the proposed deal of the Chicago-based Crown family, owners of 100 percent of ASC since their recent purchase of the 50 percent share owned by Marvin Davis, and prospective new Highlands buyer, Gerald D. Hines, 67, a deep-pocketed Houston developer of office and retail properties, whose company controls $6 billion in assets. Hines has an exclusive option to purchase the majority of Highlands stock from Harvard University and resort founder, Whip Jones. Last year, Jones donated over 90 percent of his ski area stock to his alma mater in a convoluted deal that is probably tax-driven.
Estimated purchase price is $19 million, a figure Gerald Hines coyly says is “not too far off.”
If all deals go through, ASC will form two limited partnerships: the first, in which Hines would have a minor share, would operate all four Aspen ski areas (Aspen Mountain, Buttermilk/Tiehack, Highlands and Snowmass); the other company, to be controlled by Hines, would concentrate on the Highlands base area development.
Since there’s no guarantee it will all come together, ASC’s plans for marketing the Aspen product are conjectural, but the shape is already clear: playing to the strengths of each part of the whole package. As an independent, Highlands had to be seen as offering a full range of skiing from beginner to expert; as part of a four-mountain totality, ASC will be able to play to, and further develop, the glorious expert and extreme skiing available at Highlands.
Said Jim Crown, “Instead of trying to be all things to all visitors, now we might provide for a better use of resources.”
Clearly, one of the keys to making the consolidated Aspen ski product work is solving a difficult problem of interconnecting the facilities. It is a concept that has been pursued for years, but with ASC and Hines on the same team it seems more realizable.
For his part, Hines has made an autodisincentive plan the cornerstone for his development of the Highlands base area. It would limit the times skiers and homeowners could leave their residences in the afternoon (so as not to conflict with the final bell at nearby schools); it also proposes the use of vehicles similar to golf carts to cut down on automobile traffic and air pollution.
Assuming Hines’ purchase of Aspen Highlands is completed and the union between him and ASC stays on track, the battlefield for the destination skier could become considerably more interesting. An Aspen with its act together… Vail/Beaver Creek consolidated under Apollo…the Summit County power of Ralston Purina—all deep-pocketed and committed—makes for a market place to dream about.
