State to Buy Mountain for $7.1M

Now, under the terms of a deal cut by the Vancouver, BC-based Intrawest with New Jersey DEP commissioner Brad Campbell, Hamburg Mountain will remain undeveloped, but Intrawest will have an easier road to developing the rest of Mountain Creek. The latter encompasses residential condos and townhouses, a hotel, shops and a variety of recreational amenities tied to the company's adjacent Mountain Creek Ski Area.

The State has agreed to pay Intrawest $7.1 million for a 450-acre piece of the mountaintop, which will be donated to the state's Green Acres program. Intrawest itself will donate another 1,400 acres to Green Acres, and the combined 1,850 acres will remain undeveloped and under the aegis of the NJ Division of Parks and Forests.

"This is an example of state government, local community groups and business coming together to reach a consensus that benefits everyone," says Lorne Bassel, Intrawest's EVP of resort development. "This agreement also supports our vision of a resort in a setting of natural beauty."

Ironically, the State had owned all of the land until the mid-'80s, when it was sold to a now-defunct development partnership that had largely the same designs as Intrawest. Nothing ever happened until Intrawest came along, acquired the land, merged the existing Vernon Valley and Great Gorge ski areas and put into place a plan to develop a world-class destination.

More recently, Vernon Twp.'s approval of Intrawest's plans to develop a residential community and golf course on Hamburg Mountain set off a firestorm of lawsuits by several environmental groups. Under the terms of the sale, Intrawest will get state financial aid to continue developing Mountain Creek's resort village, which will be confined to the base of the mountain. A 10-year build-out is projected.

And groups like the New Jersey Conservation Foundation and the Sierra Club have agreed to end their legal challenges. "The most important thing is that we're getting back the mountain, which shouldn't have been given away to begin with," the Sierra Club's Jeffrey Tittel told reporters after the deal was announced. Hamburg Mountain is located in Sussex County, in the northern tip of the state.