The Nutting Co., which also owns Seven Springs (Pa.) Mountain Resort and Ogden Newspapers Inc., agreed to buy the 1,200-acre property for an undisclosed price from The Buncher Co. The resort includes 29 ski slopes and trails, an 18-hole golf course, lodge, and a portion of the 88-unit Four Seasons Condominium complex.
The Nutting family, owners of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Seven Springs (Pa.) Mountain Resort and Ogden Newspapers Inc., agreed to acquire Hidden Valley (Pa.) Resort from The Buncher Co. for an undisclosed price, the Pittsburgh-based TribLIVE reported.
The Nutting Co. bought Seven Springs in July 2006, which is about 13 miles apart from Hidden Valley. The deal with The Buncher Co. is supposed to close at the end of September, TribLIVE reported.
“Clearly, this fits very nicely with Seven Springs, and I believe over time we’ll find opportunities to market the two resorts to bring more people into the Laurel Highlands,” said Robert “Bob” Nutting, chairman of Seven Springs and the Pirates.
The 1,200-acre Hidden Valley Resort includes 29 ski slopes and trails, as well as an 18-hole golf course and a lodge. The acquisition includes Buncher’s 80 units of the 88-unit, Four Seasons Condominium, a four-building complex, TribLIVE reported.
Known for decades as a family vacation spot, Hidden Valley had been “in a state of decline” before Buncher bought it in 2007, said Robert Davis, resort editor for the online publication EpicSki.com. Buncher made “first-rate improvements” to Hidden Valley’s ski facilities and the golf course in particular, Davis said.
Nutting would not disclose plans for any specific changes at Hidden Valley but said that his company planned to make investments to help attract more business. He pointed to improvements at Seven Springs, including a complete renovation of the resort’s hotel and upgrades to the chair lift to increase carrying capacity, TribLIVE reported.
“We intend to invest in and help both resorts grow,” Nutting said. “It’s important that they are strong five, 10, 15 years from now.”
The significantly bigger Seven Springs has 5,500 acres, consisting of 33 slopes and trails, eight terrain parks, the region’s largest tubing park, an 18-hole golf course and 60,000 sq. ft. of meeting and convention space, TribLIVE reported.
Both Seven Springs and Hidden Valley depend on business from families and vacationers from Pennsylvania and neighboring states. Nutting plans to develop a marketing strategy to draw visitors from farther away.
Buncher purchased Hidden Valley from the Kettler family for $12.4 million, according to deeds filed in Somerset County. Buncher president Thomas Balestrieri declined to say whether the company will make a profit from the sale, TribLIVE reported.
Buncher decided to sell the resort primarily to refocus on its “core business” of real estate development in Pittsburgh and the six surrounding counties, Balestrieri said. The company has been in commercial real estate leasing and development since 1954, and owns several industrial parks in the region as well as an office complex in the Strip District, TribLIVE reported.
“We have accomplished our objective of improving the resort to the extent it is one of the premier resorts in the region, and the right buyer came at the right time,” Balestrieri said.
The sale of Hidden Valley does not include the approximately 850 acres that abuts the golf course, TribLIVE reported.
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