Granby Ranch goes on the market
Bryce Martin / Sky-Hi News
Granby Ranch officially went up for sale this week, but you won’t find its price tag.
Jeff Woolson, managing director of the golf and resort properties group within CBRE, which is handling the resort side of the sale, confirmed with Sky-Hi News that the property went up for sale Monday and that the market will be what determines its value.
“(The property has) so many revenue generators, from ski to golf to residential and fishing; and people put different value on different things,” explained Woolson.
Woolson said it’s common not to attach a cost since there are so many components to the sale.
Granby Ranch CEO Melissa Cipriani agreed with Woolson’s assessment.
“The property has a lot of moving parts, including operating businesses and almost 5,000 acres of land, all of which have different values to different investors,” Cipriani said. “So it’s best to leave the asset unpriced and allow the market to determine its highest value.”
It could also take at least one year for Granby Ranch to welcome a new owner, according to Woolson.
“All in, from beginning to close, a year maybe, maybe less,” he said. “I think we’ll have a lot of interest. But it’s a big, complicated project.”
So was the sale of the Yellowstone Club, a private residential club, ski resort and golf resort in Big Sky, Mont., roughly similar to Granby Ranch, which CBRE recently sold after the resort filed for bankruptcy.
Its sale price was $115 million.
That resort was larger than Granby Ranch, but did not have private waters as Granby’s resort does, and it was what Woolson called “a pinnacle,” a renowned resort.
CBRE also sold Adam’s Rib Ranch in Eagle about 18 months ago, but the final sale price for that remains confidential since it was a private transaction.
“People look at these properties in segments and it’s hard to say what some people value higher than others,” Woolson explained.
Considering the recent wrongful death lawsuit against Granby Ranch by the family of Kelly Huber, who died after falling from a chairlift at the resort in December 2016, Woolson doesn’t think it will pose an issue for the sale.
“We’re not expecting that to impact the sale of the property at all,” he said.
The entirety of Granby Ranch’s land were listed with Eric and Martin Roth of CBRE Land Services in Denver.
Marise Cipriani, owner of Granby Ranch, told Sky-Hi News in October that “it was time” to turn the resort over to new owners.
The Ciprianis, who have owned the resort — originally named SilverCreek — since purchasing it Sept. 28, 1995 out of receivership after the previous owners died in a plane crash at the Granby airport, have decided to turn their focus to family.
“It’s been a privilege being part of this community,” Cipriani said. “But this could be our last winter here.”
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