ACR Back in the news ADE 8/11 and 8/12

Latest ADE article. Tom Lawson now looking at 4 foreclosures totaling $1.2M. That probably doesn't include the $300,000. plus Fed Tax Lien for non payment of fed income tax for 07,08 and 09. Lets see if all those big investors just waiting in the wings(as always) step in and save the day.

ADK Jeff, Maybe you can get us a link to the article in todays ADE titled, "Park Street building could go back to bank" .

it is a shame that Big Tupper is inexorably tied into this mess, dooms much chance of it ever being open again. MC2, keep buying those lottery tickets.

Here you go Endo, feast on this:
TUPPER LAKE - Developer Tom Lawson and his wife Sue are at risk of losing a commercial building at 95 Park St. to foreclosure for failing to pay the mortgage, according to court documents.

Franklin County state Supreme Court Judge John Ellis, a Tupper Lake resident, signed the "Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale" on Sept. 22, and the commercial property is scheduled to be sold at public auction on Nov. 18 at the Franklin County Courthouse in Malone. The Notice of Pendency of Action, which began the court's foreclosure process, was filed on March 11.

The Lawsons moved to Tupper Lake to help develop the Adirondack Club and Resort on and around Big Tupper Ski Area, and Tom Lawson has been the local face of the much-hoped-for project, planned as a 6,300-acre luxury housing development and outdoor recreation resort. Separately, the couple purchased and started to redevelop much of the uptown business district on Park Street, but within the last year four mortgage foreclosures were initiated against those properties, according to Franklin County Clerk Kip Cassavaw. So far, the 95 Park St. building is the only one that has an auction date.

According to court documents, the Lawsons owe Community Bank, N.A. $102,293 in mortgage and interest on the building. The original mortgage amount was for $149,500 that was secured in 2009.

Tom Lawson and other parties holding stakes in his personal properties, including the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, face a total of $1.2 million in mortgage debt on personal properties, the most recent one at the corner of Park Street and Cliff Avenue, for which he owes $175,000. The foreclosure action on that property was filed Oct. 7 by the Cheru Family Limited Partnership.

Tom Lawson did not return the Enterprise's phone calls for this story.

His primary function in the ACR is as a local partner with experience developing and selling to the highest end of the real estate market. Before co-founding the ACR, Lawson developed and sold luxury homes in the Bahamas.

Most recently, the Lawsons rented the 95 Park St. location to Magnus Stalhammer, owner of the pizzeria Bima's.

Thru all this I continue to feel bad for the residents of Tupper

When this whole mess goes to tax sale Orda should set in and take over the ski area.  Running that fits into its mission of Economic development in the Daks.  Once the ski area is back up and running the town will benefit.  Maybe someday way down the line a scaled down version of the real estate project could even become viable.

The way I see it Orda was at least partially responsible for Tuppers down fall when about 15 years ago when the Gondis got put in at WF and Gore and the combined season pass was only about 300 bucks orda put  Tupper out of business.  Time for Orda to fix this.  Having a 3rd ski area in the Daks would make Orda stronger.  Tupper is would be very popular with intermediate families.  Tupper is only about 30 miles from LP and this would help the economy in Both Saranac and Tupper Lakes

So the government is the problem and the solution?

Coach Z wrote

Thru all this I continue to feel bad for the residents of Tupper

When this whole mess goes to tax sale Orda should set in and take over the ski area.  Running that fits into its mission of Economic development in the Daks.  Once the ski area is back up and running the town will benefit.  Maybe someday way down the line a scaled down version of the real estate project could even become viable.

The way I see it Orda was at least partially responsible for Tuppers down fall when about 15 years ago when the Gondis got put in at WF and Gore and the combined season pass was only about 300 bucks orda put  Tupper out of business.  Time for Orda to fix this.  Having a 3rd ski area in the Daks would make Orda stronger.  Tupper is would be very popular with intermediate families.  Tupper is only about 30 miles from LP and this would help the economy in Both Saranac and Tupper Lakes

You have said ORDA is responsible for Big Tupper's failure previously and it is still not valid. Big Tupper was bought out of bankruptcy in Aug, 1992, well before ORDA updated and expanded Gore and WF. Rather than rewrite my response, I Just copied the whole post.

"In reply to this post by Coach Z  
Coach Z wrote

My take is that Orda and thus NYS bankrupted Tupper around 2000 when it invested in WF and Gore  with the gondis and at the same time lowered season pass prices.  Nys owes it to Tupper which has since become a goast town in the winter to do something to bring it back."

and my response:

"NYS doesn't owe Big Tupper anything. Your take is nothing more than unrelated events.

Big Tupper was bought out of bankruptcy in Aug, 1992, and  then closed again in 1999. The combination of location and marginal terrain are the major problems. It is not in a snow belt like Snow Ridge. Here is an article from the Press Republican, Aug 24, 1999.

"Big Tupper Ski Area closes : Owner cites bad weather, mounting debt as primary factors

TUPPER LAKE — Buried by debts instead of snow, Big Tupper Ski Area Inc. on Monday said it was closing with little chance of reopening again.

"It's been an uphill battle the whole way," said Peter Day, who purchased the Mount Morris facility with Leroy Pickering in 1992. "Things are not good in ski country."

The two owners, Day said, have pumped $7 million into Big Tupper since 1992 and are now $2.2 million in debt.

But the company will not declare bankruptcy. Day expects to take in about $1.2 million from selling equipment and the 450 acres of land where Big Tupper sits. The remaining $1 million will be financed and paid over a 10- or 15-year period."

Here is the whole article:
http://blog.pressrepublican.com/archive/index.php"
Previous post June 1, 2015

ORDA should not 'take over' Big Tupper. ORDA has enough money losers to prop up already.

Coach Z wrote

Thru all this I continue to feel bad for the residents of Tupper

When this whole mess goes to tax sale Orda should set in and take over the ski area.  Running that fits into its mission of Economic development in the Daks.  Once the ski area is back up and running the town will benefit.  Maybe someday way down the line a scaled down version of the real estate project could even become viable.

The way I see it Orda was at least partially responsible for Tuppers down fall when about 15 years ago when the Gondis got put in at WF and Gore and the combined season pass was only about 300 bucks orda put  Tupper out of business.  Time for Orda to fix this.  Having a 3rd ski area in the Daks would make Orda stronger.  Tupper is would be very popular with intermediate families.  Tupper is only about 30 miles from LP and this would help the economy in Both Saranac and Tupper Lakes

Coach, Friend of mine in Tupper gave me a little background info on this. Apparently the town board in Tupper approached ORDA in the mid 80's asking them to take it over, which would seem to have made sense. ORDA declined.
They ten opted to sell the area unfortunately to Roger the hot dog king who took every penny out he could and invested nothing, he only ran it a year or 2 then leased it to Pat Cunningham.

The new owners in 92 were local guys who gave it a go and put in the bulk of the Snowmaking system and did some serious lift work on Ch 3 to get it back in shape.(base terminal problems)

And it was Big  Tupper that went with the discounted season passes before ORDA, not the other way around.

I wish there was a way for ORDA to take it over now but the financial mess that encases the area would be a big obstacle to overcome. And they would have to sink millions into it just to get it back to where it was in its heyday.

If by some miracle Big Tupper was still ticking along with the 3 main lifts and the operating snowmaking system that wasn't sold off, you might be able to make a case for an ORDA take over. The price should be a dollar, but if BT was still generating some revenue, maybe you could figure some multiple of revenue as a price.  It would be a way to stabilize the area to create some winter reason to go to Tupper Lake.

Unfortunately, there is way too much needed to make the place an operating ski area again. The reason for its failures over the last 30 years have to do with a bad location, inconsistent ownership, and terrain that is not very compelling.

Stick a fork in it.

Maybe build a bitchen casino and snowmobile trail system.

Didn't know all that history.  I was going on what I heard from some guys that used to teach over there that the Gondi at Gore and WF was the last nail in the coffin as there was no way they could try to match that.

Hate to say it but RA is right a Casino might be the answer to the Town's issues.  Could you see their heads exploding at Protect the Daks if that was proposed.

Well shit....it would be way more environmentally friendly than a huge swath of land developed by massive 5000+ foot square mansions that most only see life a few months of the year for a small number of people. I think times are changing though, we are going to run out of people to buy these ridiculous real estate project properties here pretty soon! Well maybe not, I don't know but it's hard to believe we can just keep building and building. I doubt the younger generation is going to have the money to spend on things like this that the previous generations had.

I don't see gambling working out well in Tupper Lake.

Gambling only "succeeds" when is limited. Vegas was first and only for a long time. Then came Atlantic City I think. Now Connecticut, Central NY, where else? Seems like a race to the bottom.

Probably. I just wanted to go the polar opposite of the rich real estate golf resort idea. So then, what else is there?

Is the town just doomed? Things do cycle out. That's reality.

I wonder what Benny has to say.

I don't have the answer. Logging is gone.

I feel like if you can't attract the rich the casinos will either be empty or they will attract those who can't afford it.

Disclosure: I am not objective on this.  To me casinos feel like a microscopic step up from a heroine business.  Not sure why I feel that way. We spend our money on all kinds of non-productive things.

I agree, but I was just shooting from the hip with any idea I could. I'm not a fan of casinos at all. Is snowmobiling a big thing around there? Can that help a slow winter economy?

I think there is snowmobiling in the area, but the area to the southwest more suited to it as it gets a lot more lake effect  > snow at low elevations.

Snowmobiles are really big a bit west of Tupper in the area from Star Lake , Cranbury Lake to Chilwold.  That is a high plateau and its closer to Lake Ontario so it gets pounded with Lake effect.  I used to drive to LP from Watertown every weekend and that was the section that was the worst to drive and you'd see hundreds of snowmobiles.

Harvey wrote

I don't have the answer. Logging is gone.

I feel like if you can't attract the rich the casinos will either be empty or they will attract those who can't afford it.

Disclosure: I am not objective on this.  To me casinos feel like a microscopic step up from a heroine business.  Not sure why I feel that way. We spend our money on all kinds of non-productive things.

You are right to feel that way. If you go into a backwater casino in Nevada what you will see is the elderly, usually in a wheel chair, O2 attached, smoking heavily and pulling the handle like a robot. It's enough to make you puke.

Coach Z wrote

Didn't know all that history.  I was going on what I heard from some guys

OMG!!!

gossip queen!  

From bad to worse for the ACR. Check out todays ADE article on the LA Group filing liens on ACR properties(actual and proposed). ADK Jeff, maybe you can post the article. And for another piece of the puzzle, one of the buildings on Park St that the developer said he would never let it go to foreclosure was foreclosed on back in mid December. Former restaurant went to auction, now bank owned.

Trump University??