The court-appointed receiver in charge of Burke Mountain said this week that he鈥檚 close to finalizing the sale of the resort.
Michael Goldberg did not name the potential buyer, but and have committed to investing 鈥渕any millions of dollars into snowmaking and other improvements.鈥�
This isn鈥檛 the first time that a sale of Burke appeared imminent. In 2023, Goldberg wrote in a court filing that he'd received an initial bid for the ski resort, and last summer, he wrote in a report that he hoped to complete the sale by the end of 2024.
Earlier this week, of ignoring their bid to buy the mountain. In his statement this week, Goldberg confirmed that the group, Green Mountain Ski Partners, wanted to purchase the resort, and that he worked with them for nine months in 2023 and 2024. But Goldberg said towards the end of the process the group tried to offer a lower price.
鈥淎t the last minute they attempted in bad faith to renegotiate a lower price after we had already reached agreement on terms and spent thousands of dollars finalizing a contract,鈥� Goldberg said in the press release.
The investors behind Green Mountain Ski Partners deny they were acting in bad faith. Todd Firestone, one of the principles in the group, said in an interview Friday that they initially offered $12 million for Burke, but eventually dropped their bid to $10 million.
鈥淚t took an inordinate amount of time to communicate with the receiver and his law firm,鈥� Firestone said. 鈥淎nd during that time, there was another year basically of more deferred maintenance, primarily at the hotel 鈥� and so that causes us to say 鈥楲ook, we鈥檙e going to offer something lower, because we think it鈥檚 worth less now.鈥欌��
Firestone said the group was willing to raise their bid for Burke when it went to auction, which Goldberg said in previous court filings was the planned process for selling the resort. He used a similar process to sell Jay Peak, where an initial buyer set a 鈥渟talking horse bid鈥� to set the minimum sale price before an auction.
Firestone said the group is still interested in buying Burke Mountain and plans to hold a community forum in town Friday evening.
Goldberg declined an interview request on Friday, and did not respond when asked if he still planned to auction Burke Mountain.
Goldberg has overseen Burke Mountain since 2016, after federal regulators accused former owners Bill Stenger and Ariel Quiros of perpetrating the largest financial fraud in Vermont history.
The men were accused of misappropriating more than $200 million from investors using the federal EB-5 program, which gives foreign investors green cards if they put at least $500,000 into development projects that generate jobs in economically depressed regions.
Quiros and Stenger across the Northeast Kingdom, including building a hotel at Burke Mountain and a waterpark at Jay Peak. Some of their projects, like a biotech facility in Newport, were never built. Both men pleaded guilty to criminal charges related to the proposed biotech facility 鈥� a project that federal prosecutors said was almost a total fraud.
Stenger , while Quiros is currently serving a five year sentence and is set to be released in October, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Aside from Burke Mountain, Goldberg is still in charge of the so-called 鈥減it鈥� in downtown Newport, one of the most visible signs of the EB-5 scandal. The vacant lot was meant to be part of a redevelopment plan pitched by Quiros and Stenger, and was supposed to be funded through the EB-5 program. The state has expressed interest in buying the lot in recent years, but balked at Goldberg鈥檚 asking price.
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