Idaho Club doing well

SANDPOINT - The Idaho Club has not changed plans for future development despite recent news that Sullivan Homes Idaho, which was slated to build 85 lodge homes at the site, went out of business.

Idaho Club sales director Brand Arnold said the club is very strong and vibrant, with $16 million in closed or pending transactions in the last six months.

Arnold touts the company's recent sales as proof that the Idaho Club is still moving forward, but admits that, overall,  sales are not where the company had originally hoped.

"It's less than where we wanted it to be, but nobody has a crystal ball and nobody can predict or make the market. But we're thankful and proud of the sales that we have," Arnold said.

The closure of Sullivan Homes was yet another reminder of the seemingly endless bad news in the housing market, and Arnold said the Idaho Club is not immune to that news.

"Is it fun to have news like this come out? No, but the best way I know how to explain this instance is it's a black eye that's already begun to heal," Arnold said. "It's not fun getting punched in the face. It's not fun learning about all the problems in the sub-prime market. It's not fun to read the newspaper about all the problems in the credit world. But we know we're going to weather the storm. We might come out with tattered sails and some scuffs in the side of the boat, but we'll weather the storm."

Of the 85 scheduled lodge homes Sullivan was to build, the Idaho Club has sold 27, with all but 10 completed. Arnold said the company has yet to decide how it will handle the 10 unfinished homes, but said the club has already begun the process of working with Sullivan, the individual homeowners and the four banks that own the construction loans to find a solution.

The club will eventually take on a new company as its "preferred builder" for the lodge homes, but, in the meantime, Arnold said the company will continue to push forward until it has sold every unit on site, even if it takes longer than originally planned.

"We've got a very responsible, seasoned developer that understands all this and he understands that he can't make the market and he can't control the market, but he can respond to it. This project's always been a when, not an if. So it takes a year longer than we thought? So be it," Arnold said.