KIVITV.COM | Boise. News, Breaking News, Weather and Sports-Lifts Idle, Tamarack Property Owners Hope for Best

Lifts Idle, Tamarack Property Owners Hope for Best

BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- Property owners who erected vacation homes at Tamarack Resort amid the real-estate bubble are now facing the grim prospect of a winter with idled ski lifts, now that a last-ditch push to save the 2009-2010 season is dead. Dallas retiree Richard Snyder built his 3,500-square-foot home at this central Idaho vacation getaway in 2005, an era marked by frenetic construction and a pledge by tennis star Andre Agassi to build a luxury hotel. Then came 2008; Agassi double-faulted on his plans and workers laid down their hammers as Tamarack's owners stiffed their Swiss bankers on a $250 million loan. Bank of America is even fighting to repossess the ski lifts. From his Texas home, Snyder now says, "It's gone from, 'I can't wait to get out there, it's so great,' to 'Why go?' " He's among many here placing their hopes in a foreclosure trial planned for next March to resolve finances and lure new investors.