Deal close to being finalized, SSMEDC official says

More details of an impending sale of Searchmont Ski Resort will be announced Friday.

That from Dan Hollingsworth, Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corporation (SSMEDC) executive director, speaking to SooToday Wednesday.

“A deal is very close to being finalized. All the pieces are in place. It’s going to be a good news story for the community,” Hollingsworth said.

Searchmont Ski Resort, approximately 50 kilometres north of Sault Ste. Marie, is currently owned by the SSMEDC and operated by the non-profit Searchmont Ski Association Inc. (SSAI)

The SSMEDC purchased the troubled Searchmont Resort for $750,000 in January 2015 (paying off Searchmont Ski Association Inc.'s mortgage) and put another $750,000 into paying off some of the resort's accumulated debts, using a building it owns as collateral.

“We’ve done that (helped SSAI run Searchmont). We were, over the past several months, marketing the resort to prospective buyers, and we’ve been working and negotiating with one individual, an investor, for the last couple of months,” Hollingsworth said.

Hollingsworth did not disclose any further details of the investor’s identity or the impending sale.