Interested Holland Lake Lodge buyers meet with community members in Condon, local group announces plan to purchase

Two avenues of purchasing Holland Lake Lodge were presented on Sept. 3 in Condon to a crowd gathered at the Swan Valley Community Center.

Private equity investors Eric Jacobsen and Thomas Knowles introduced themselves and their intentions to those gathered, and a new nonprofit based in Condon announced its own plan to purchase the property.

Jacobsen and Knowles have issued a letter of intent to purchase the assets of Holland Lake Lodge LLC and the liquor license, the property currently 80% owned by Christian Wohlfiel since 2002 and 20% by POWDR, a company that owns and operates ski resorts across the country and whose previous proposal to develop the property has been withdrawn.

The purpose of the meeting was for Jacobsen and Knowles to introduce themselves and provide a general vision for the property.

Jacobsen, a Great Falls native and Stanford graduate, has had a varied business career, an example of which is the Gratitude Railroad, which is focused on socially and environmentally responsible investments. Knowles is married to Jacobsen's niece, and is also involved in Gratitude.

Jacobsen described himself as deeply committed to Holland Lake Lodge from experiencing the area over numerous family visits and as a Whitefish resident. Both Jacobsen and Knowles denied association with POWDR. Knowles lives in Park City, where POWDR is headquartered.

Jacobsen presented his vision as markedly less aggressive than POWDR's, which originally included a guest capacity increase from 50 to 150 among other expansion intentions, but did state that for the lodge to be viable it would have to expand, whether with facilities or months of operation. He doesn't intend to lose money, but didn't see the project as likely to be significantly profitable.

Audience questioning was lengthy and tough. How do we know this movie isn't "POWDR 2, Return of the Bulldozers"? Jacobsen again emphasized the smaller scale of his project, and lack of association with POWDR, which several in the audience challenged.

Many questioned why private equity investors, who are notoriously fastidious about due diligence, would plunk down millions yet not have an idea of what they planned to do with the property. They don't have a lodge manager or a chef. There were no plans presented for lodge renovation, other lodging, or a specific waste management plan.

Grace Siloti, representing Stewards of the Swan, a group based in Condon dedicated to preserving the culture of the Swan Valley, advocated for a proposal her group is developing, which involves a non-profit, community-based plan to purchase the lodge at its present scale. Siloti was also part of the grassroots organization, Save Holland Lake, that advocated vociferously against POWDR's expansion plans. She said she asked Jacobsen's group to participate in Stewards of the Swan's plan but they declined.

"Stewards of the Swan Valley is dedicated to using a "home-grown approach" to protect the historic Holland Lake Lodge and ensure that all Americans can enjoy this piece of public land in the shadow of the Swan and Mission mountains," Siloti said in a press release. "We're doing due diligence to determine how the lodge could be purchased and managed in a manner that ensures future generations of Montanans and Americans always have access to this historic landmark on public land."

Stewards of the Swan has not completed their business plan.

The skeptical audience reiterated concerns from the previous proposal. What about infrastructure concerns such as waste management, fire, medical, housing for employees, roadways, water quality, trails and animals?

Jacobsen and Knowles promised future meetings. Several complained about the short notice and the time of the meeting - 2 p.m. on a weekday - although the place was packed.

The meeting served the purpose of introducing the interested buyers to the community, and the investors left with a long list of concerns from a community well-seasoned from the previous process.