April 23, 2012
Massachusetts

Former Brodie Mountain Ski Area up for sale

By Meghan Foley, North Adams Transcript, www.thetranscript.com 23 April 2012

The approximately 500-acre site was recently put on the market and is being offered by Davis R. Chant Realtors, which is based in Milford, Pa. The property is currently owned by Silverleaf Resorts Inc., which had planned to build 324 timeshares on the property as part of its $50 million Snowy Owl Resort project.

A real estate posting on PlanScapes, which is associated with Chant Realtors, described the property as “spectacular,” with an old-growth forest and a vertical elevation of 1,250 feet.

It suggested suitable uses for the property could include resort housing, additional wind turbines, a spring water supply, timber resources or university research.

The property is adjacent to 10 wind turbines built as part of the Berkshire Wind Project.

The real estate listing doesn’t include an asking price, and efforts to reach a representative with Chant Realtors were unsuccessful.

Multiple efforts to reach Michael Brown, director of resort development for Silverleaf Resorts, which is based in Dallas, Texas, were also unsuccessful.

Kelton “Kim” Burbank, chairman of the Selectmen, said there are signs indicating the property is for sale, but the board hasn’t heard word from Silverleaf about it.

With the way the economy has been, Burbank said it doesn’t surprise him that the property has been put back on the market.

The Planning Board hasn’t heard anything about Silverleaf’s plans either, according to member Flavia Mastellone.

“Silverleaf hasn’t communicated with the Planning Board in many years. We really don’t know anything,” she said.

She added that until recently, the property hadn’t been on the radars of many town residents.

In 2003, the Planning Board granted a special permit that allowed Silverleaf to move forward with plans for the Snowy Owl Resort project. The board then approved Silverleaf’s request to amend the permit in 2008. Silverleaf purchased the property for $2.6 million in 2004 from FO Ski Resorts LLC, a corporation formed by the owners of Jiminy Peak at that time, Brian Fairbank and Joseph O’Donnell.

According to an Aug. 6, 2004, Transcript article, the deed included a restriction, created by FO Ski Resorts, that prohibited Silverleaf from owning and permitting a public commercial downhill skiing and snowboarding facility on the property.

FO Ski Resorts purchased the Brodie Mountain Ski Area from founder and owner James Kelly for $600,000 and an exchange of property, according to documents from the Northern Berkshire Registry of Deeds. Kelly opened the ski area in 1964.