Corporate America Occupies 60 Percent Of Washington Ski Areas

CNL, a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) based out of Florida, just copped Stevens Pass for a cool 20.5 million.  They own Crystal Mountain, Snoqualmie Pass, and now Stevens–60% of Washington Cascade Ski Areas.  Only White Pass, and Mt Baker are outside of their ownership—for now.

For those of you wondering WTF a REIT is, here’s what the Wikipedia says:

“A REIT is a tax designation for a corporate entity investing in real estate. The purpose of this designation is to reduce or eliminate corporate tax. In return, REITs are required to distribute 90% of their taxable income into the hands of investors. The REIT structure was designed to provide a real estate investment structure similar to the structure mutual funds provide for investment in stocks.”  LINK

“Stevens Pass will have its own management team headed by current General Manager John Gifford. Mountain High Resort will be managed by Vice President of Resort Operations Ben Smith. There will be no immediate changes to operations as a result of the acquisition; season passes and other commitments made by the resort will be unaffected by the change in ownership.”  Here’s the full press release from CNL – LINK