$50 Million Cranmore Mountain Renovation Planned

A rendering of the base area that will include 106 condominium units. Courtesy of Cranmore Mountain Resort.

Boston entrepreneur Joe O’Donnell is partnering with the Fairbank Group, a Massachusetts-based management company, to invest more than $50 million into Cranmore Mountain Resort in North Conway. The plan, unveiled in January in Boston, includes 106 condominiums at the base of the mountain so skiers can stay slopeside for quick access to skiing. The plan also calls for six new buildings. The existing ticket office building, summit Meister Hut and the Artist Falls Lodge will remain.

O’Donnell, along with Fairbank president Brian Fairbank and CEO Tyler Fairbank, purchased Cranmore in 2010, making an initial $10 million investment that focused on increasing snowmaking and improving the general infrastructure.

Planning for the new development, named Kearsarge Brook, began in 2012. According to O’Donnell, the project is fully funded by his affiliate company Belmont Capital Group and the Fairbank Group. Brian Fairbank estimates a six- to 10-year timetable for completion of the project.

Tyler Fairbank says the condominiums will be a sales vehicle for funding further development at Cranmore. The condominiums will include two- and three-bedroom options and sell for $395,000 to $599,000.

They have all the necessary permits, but Brian Fairbank says they are waiting to break ground until they sell 14 of the 18 residences in the first condominium building. The first 14 buyers are being offered up to four complimentary winter ski and summer attractions season passes for five years and a waiver for  one year of maintenance fees.

The Fairbank Group implemented a similar development at Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort in the Berkshires of Massachusetts. In addition, the group owns Bromley Mountain Ski Resort in Vermont. Cranmore Mountain, located a half-mile from downtown North Conway, has seven chair lifts, 48 trails, eight glades, five areas for freestyle skiing and boarding and a mountain adventure park that includes snow tubing and a mountain coaster. The park also has a ropes course for younger kids that it added last year.