The Dixville Notch, N.H., resort, which has been closed for three years, is “making lots of progress” in a multi-phased plan that will involve rebuilding the resort with increased recreation opportunities.
Developers of The Balsams Grand Resort in Dixville Notch, N.H., will not be submitting plans for state and local review until at least the fall, the Manchester (N.H.)-based WMUR-TV reported.
Scott Tranchemontagne, spokesman for Leslie B. Otten, said “We’re not ready yet to submit a formal site plan for review at the state or local levels,” but noted that the developers are “making lots of progress.”
In February, Dan Dagesse and Dan Hebert, owners of the resort, confirmed they entered into agreement with Dixville Capital, LLC, a company owned by well-known New England resort developer Les Otten, to “establish a viable path forward for the redevelopment of the Balsams,” WMUR-TV reported.
The resort has been closed for three years after it was sold to Hebert and Dagesse. The two began to prepare the site for re-development but needed an investor to come forward to help with the plan. Otten has extensive experience as an investor and developer of resorts, WMUR-TV reported.
In May, Otten was speaker at the annual meeting of the North Country Chamber of Commerce. He laid an ambitious, multi-phased plan with the first phase costing about $100 million to rebuild the 150-year-old resort, which sits on 10,000 acres owned by Dagesse and Hebert, WMUR-TV reported.
The hope is that by 2016 it will be reopened, WMUR-TV reported.
Eventually it will be much bigger in scale and offer recreation opportunities including world-class golf, a major expansion of skiing terrain with state-of-the-art lifts and snowmaking, hundreds of miles for ATV riding, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, dining and services from local farms, WMUR-TV reported.
At the chamber meeting in May, Otten said so far there have been no red flags and New Hampshire officials have been working to make it happen. One task is to get access to adequate water to expand skiing, WMUR-TV reported.
State Sen. Jeff Woodburn, a Democrat who represents the North Country, and Executive Councilor Joe Kenney, a Republican, welcomed the project and noted the enthusiasm for the plans and what it would mean to the North Country’s economy, WMUR-TV reported.
Acknowledging that the resort is “not on the main path,” Otten said, “for us to succeed, we need to be of grand scale.”
The vision, over phases, is for a campus, including 1,000 four-star hotel rooms, food-to-farm provisions, pure water and to grow the local economy, using farms and produce from the area, WMUR-TV reported.
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