The bondholders are working on a counteroffer that could include small cuts in the debt and would ease the repayment terms, the people said. The bondholders haven’t yet coalesced around one approach, these people said.

The talks have raised issues unique to Native American gambling that investors once dismissed, such as tribes’ rights as sovereign nations. The talks also have broached questions about the way the Pequot tribe spends the income from its casino, which is the largest in the U.S. by space and gambling positions like slot machines.

The deadline involves a $700 million revolving credit facility the tribe tapped from banks led by Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch. The facility matures on July 13 and the tribe would need to pay off the entire credit line on that day, though it is likely to seek an extension because of the slow progress of the talks. The Pequots breached a covenant on that debt in the fall and have received several waivers on that breach since.

via Foxwoods Debt Talks Prove Test of Tribal Bets – WSJ.com.

US Bank, acting on behalf of investors that own the resort’s securitized mortgage, on Tuesday won the auction with a bid of $122 million, according to Foreclosure Listing Service Inc., based in Addison, Texas. The mortgage holders had the advantage of being able to bid up to the remaining balance of the mortgage without needing to put in additional money.

The auction marks the second time that the 357-room Four Seasons Dallas has changed hands in the past three months. In April, Capri Capital, which held the $39 million mezzanine loan on the resort, displaced previous owner BentleyForbes LLC by foreclosing on the resort’s equity. Next, the resort’s mortgage holders, whose claim is senior to Capri’s, wrested control from Capri by winning the auction on Tuesday.

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, based in Toronto, will continue to manage the Dallas resort.

via Mortgage Holders Seize Four Seasons Dallas – Developments – WSJ.

Gaylord also expects to incur a non-cash write-off related to the impairment of certain assets and generate a significantly lower level of consolidated cash flow during the remaining quarters of 2010 as a result of the flood damage.

In addition to the rebuilding costs, which include $23 million to $28 million in previously scheduled enhancement projects, the company sees operating expenses of $57 million to $62 million for maintaining its assets until it re-launches them.

Offsetting these costs are insurance proceeds of $50 million and a federal tax refund of about $30 million.

via UPDATE 2-Gaylord sees rebuild costs up to $225 mln; to cut jobs | Reuters.

via Seven Canyons golf resort goes into bankruptcy – Sedona Red Rock News, Sedona, AZ Classifieds, Jobs, News, Sports, Weather.

Balsam Mountain Preserve’s former owner, Chaffin/Light Associates, defaulted on bank loans last year and Vestlyn BMP LLC foreclosed on the property. Now, just six months from the beginning of foreclosure to gaining control, Vestlyn has stepped in and is moving forward with selling the remaining 120 lots on the property. The company has reopened the property’s facilities, including the award winning Arnold Palmer Signature golf course.

The entity is represented by TriLyn LLC, an institutional real estate investment company that had held the debt for the development since 2005. The development is debt-free since the original lender is now the equity owner.

“I think people are pleased with what has happened,” said Bruce Fine, VP of sales and marketing at Balsam, of the 170 owners in the preserve. “What happened here demonstrates both the commitment of the new owner and the passion that Balsam’s property owners have for the community.”

Last year, amenities at the development, including golf course, fitness center, pool, activity center and nature center, were either closed or scaled back as financial details were sorted out. Only 20 employees were retained through the winter of the original 90 employed.

Like other communities in Western North Carolina, Balsam Mountain Preserve was a victim of the recent economic downturn, Fine said. The development had no debt until 2005, when the original developer started frontloading amenities at a time that homeowners in the community were low, Fine said. The developer got behind, went to the open market in search of money and then the market soured.

“TriLyn ended up basically taking the reins through the foreclosure,” he said. “Balsam now has the advantage of stable, institutional ownership and no debt. We are moving quickly to complete this extraordinary property and as the economy continues to recover we expect to see increased demand of our homesites.”

“We’ve had two closings this month, five lots are under reservation, and we’re rehiring people we laid off,” Fine said. Forty-four employees are now on staff, 11 of whom were recently called back, Fine said, and there are plans to hire another dozen or so to bring employee numbers back to full force.

via Faltering Balsam Mountain Preserve makes comeback.

via Daniel Goldstein, Last Atlantic Yards Holdout, Agrees To Sell For $3 Million.

Wynn said the project — to be located in the territory’s Cotai area, a piece of reclaimed land seen as the next great hope for global gambling — would likely feature less than 2,000 rooms, about 400 tables, restaurants, shopping and meeting rooms set across some 50 acres of lush gardens and landscape.

Next to the towering interconnected hotel-casino projects in Cotai from competitors like Las Vegas Sands, Wynn’s planned resort would stand in marked contrast.

“What makes people happy and what don’t they get in China? …. What you don’t get in China is space, and the heart of a resort is space — gardens, places to gambol, not gamble,” Wynn, chief executive of Las Vegas-based Wynn resorts, said in an interview in Macau.

“I know what I want to do on the 51 acres, not build four hotels or six hotels or any of that foolishness,” he said. “I am going to build one hotel of modest size with gardens and extended space wherever you are.”

Wynn revealed details of the project ahead of the unveiling of the $600 million Encore at Wynn Macau. The only major project to open in the booming southern Chinese territory this year, Encore is geared toward high-end tourists and gamblers.

via The Associated Press: Wynn opens latest Macau hotel, plans new resort.

The development is the first in the 75,000-acre West Bay Sector Plan near the airport, the company announced.

The new airport is the first international airport built in the United States in the last 15 years, replacing the existing Panama City – Bay County International Airport. St. Joe donated 4,000 acres within its West Bay Sector Plan for the construction of the new airport.

VentureCrossings includes approximately 100 acres designated for retail, office and hotel uses, about 300 acres for light industrial uses, and about 600 acres for manufacturing, distribution and logistics companies.

via St. Joe kicks off large Panhandle mixed development | jacksonville.com.

The developer of the new resort development The Cottages at Cultus Lake is giving potential new buyers a chance to beat the HST deadline this summer.

Jon Van Geel of Cultus Country Investments told the Progress they’ve brought in 100 extra construction workers to fast-track the immediate construction of 20 to 30 additional cottages on spec.

Those who pre-register now to buy a cottage before July 1 will save about $44,000, for example, on one of the top-end properties, priced at $629,900.

“We found out in late November that recreational real estate would not qualify for the harmonized sales tax rebate,” said Van Geel. “We thought we’d speed up the building effort to beat the deadline.”

More than 90 units were snapped up on a pre-sale basis for phase one in October 2007, but none were sold in 2008 when the economy was tanking. The focus was on building that year.

Then another 35 cottages were pre-sold last year on the 45-acre site near Lindell Beach.

For the first time they’re building cottage units on spec, which does pose some risk for the developers.

Van Geel said there is simply no comparable cottage development anywhere else on the Lower Mainland.

As of July 1, the new HST, which combines PST and GST, will impact new resort properties.

via BCLocalNews.com – Cottages being fast-tracked to beat the HST.

Goldman yesterday asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Paul M. Glenn in Jacksonville, Florida, to lift the automatic stay, a part of the bankruptcy code that shields a company from creditors’ efforts to collect on its assets. Goldman Sachs Mortgage is a division of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Goldman, owed about $193 million, claims the company no longer has a stake in the property and can’t restructure its debts.

“The resort property that is the subject of this bankruptcy is worth less than the amount of the debt, and there is clearly no equity in the property,” lawyers for the lender said in court papers.

RQB Resort LP, which filed bankruptcy March 1 to stop a prior foreclosure action by Goldman, owns the 65-acre resort in Ponte Vedra Beach that is home to the TPC Sawgrass golf club where the U.S. PGA Tour’s Players Championship is held, court papers show. Affiliate RQB Development also sought protection.

via Goldman Seeks Leave to Foreclose on Sawgrass Resort (Update2) – BusinessWeek.