Keweenaw Report Your Source for Local News and Sports
Anthony Lane Partners, LLC, (ALP) will not be purchasing the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge.
The Dallas-based company informed the Keweenaw County Board of Commissioners Monday that they are withdrawing their intent to purchase the lodge.
A complaint to the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office by an unnamed party put the process on hold while it was being determined what effect the presence of a historic easement would have on the sale.
ALP indicated in their letter to the county that they always intended to develop the lodge with great respect to its historical significance, but the preservation easement would restrict them too much.
County officials said they were unaware of the county’s commitment to negotiate and record a historic preservation easement until they were notified by the state of the complaint.
Documents show that in 2006, the county agreed to the easement which would submit future changes of the lodge to be approved by the state, as part of an effort to obtain loans from Rural Development.
ALP says this is a big loss for them and the county. Their plan included opening the lodge year round, expanding and enhancing trail use, working toward reducing electricity rates for local residents and collaborating with Michigan Tech and other research institutions to address energy and telecommunication problems in the Keweenaw.
ALP says they remain committed to further expanding their presence in Michigan, especially in the Upper Peninsula.
Keweenaw County had other interested buyers in the property but it is unknown at this time if that interest remains.
The county says the next steps to be taken in connection with the sale of KML will be discussed by the Board of Commissioners at Wednesday night’s meeting.
Anthony Lane Partners released their statement to Keweenaw County to the Keweenaw Report Monday night. Here it is in its entirety:
* * * PRESS RELEASE * * *
Anthony Lane Partners Withdraws its Intent to Purchase the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge
Eagle River, MI., Oct. 16, 2017 – Anthony Lane Partners, LLC, a privately held strategic holding company based in Dallas, Texas, USA, withdraws its intent to purchase the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge, effective immediately. The following letter was sent to the Keweenaw County Board of Commissioners today.
16 October 2017
Charles Miller
Keweenaw County Board of Commissioners
Eagle Harbor, Michigan
Dear Mr. Miller,
After careful consideration, we regret to inform you and the Keweenaw County Board of Commissioners that Anthony Lane Partners, LLC is opting to terminate its offer to purchase the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge.
Respectfully, and to avoid doubt, please understand that ALP always intended to develop the KML with great respect for its historical significance, and we communicated this intention directly to the Board of Commissioners during our initial presentation to the board, as well as to you, the media, and the general public. The pursuit of a historic preservation easement, however, and all the restrictions associated therein, in our professional opinion, encumbers the KML to such a degree that reasonable development of the for-profit business we envisioned for this property is nearly impossible.
As you noted in a public statement that you released to the media and which was published in the Keweenaw Report on the 5th of October, 2017, the recent pursuit to create a historic preservation easement was initiated by an unidentified individual who submitted undisclosed and unverified concerns about ALP’s acquisition of the KML. In the same public statement, you further noted that the promise years ago to enact such an easement in connection with the renovation of the KML and associated Rural Development loans, which was discovered as a result of this complaint, was never acted upon nor perfected. Furthermore, in determining whether or not to submit a bid for the purchase of the KML, ALP received no disclosure or discussion about the possibility of a historic preservation easement on the KML – suggested, promised, or otherwise. It was not until well after ALP submitted our Letter of Intent, which was unanimously accepted by the Board of Commissioners on the 9th of September, 2017, that we were first made aware of the easement at issue, and we were well into the due diligence process at that time. Had this issue been presented to ALP prior to ALP’s submission of a Letter of Intent to purchase the KML, it is more likely than not that ALP would have chosen not to submit a Letter of Intent.
As you all are aware, in the last several weeks, ALP had been fully immersed in the process of developing a business enterprise that would have enabled the KML to remain open year round so that the facility could have been enjoyed 12 months per year, as opposed to just five months per year. ALP’s plans were evolving so as to include critical partnerships with existing local outdoor sports businesses and clubs that would have helped ALP expand and enhance the KML’s multi-use trails for the people of the Keweenaw and its visitors. Our plans for the KML would have eased the financial burden of record high electricity rates for the people in the Keweenaw, and ALP would have done so by utilizing mostly geothermal energy production and infrastructure, which would have been visible to no one. It is our sincere belief that our plan for the KML would have placed the Keweenaw Peninsula and the entire Upper Peninsula at the forefront of technology advancements. In fact, collaborations with Michigan Technological University and research entities all across the country, all of which include prominent subject matter experts and influential business leaders in the field, had already commenced as those experts and leaders were reaching out to us directly with hopes of getting involved in ALP’s vision for the KML project. ALP also had already entered into positive exploratory dialogue with executive management of local electric and telecommunication providers. Regrettably, for reasons discussed herein, ALP must nevertheless rescind its Letter of Intent/Bid to purchase the KML.
We wish to thank the Keweenaw County Board of Commissioners for the opportunity to have owned and cared for a property as beautiful and historically significant as the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge. In particular, we wish to thank Sandy Gayk and Jim Vivian for their hospitality and forward leaning vision for the Keweenaw. In closing, ALP remains fully committed to further expanding our presence in Michigan, especially in the Upper Peninsula. We believe in the UP and its people, and we will continue providing innovative technology and benefits to the region both now and in the future.
