Balsams View Purchases Balsams Grand Hotel

Balsams View, LLC, a partnership of NH North Country business leaders, Daniel Dagesse and Daniel Herbert, Jr., has purchased the Balsams Grand Resort and Hotel thebalsams.com/home from the Tillotson Corporation for $2.3 million.

Hebert and Dagesse have been interested in preserving the landmark hotel for more than a year, and made a new offer in recent weeks that met Tillotson's criteria.
 
We care deeply about restoring the Balsams Grand Resort Hotel to its full glory as a world-class destination resort and seeing it thrive for decades to come, said Hebert. We want to provide a stable operation that we can all be proud of.
 
It is anticipated that extensive renovations to the Balsams, located in Dixville Notch, will take approximately 18 months. Hebert said the first step is to winterize the hotel and decommission the biomass plant. Architects and engineers will then evaluate the property and formulate a renovation plan. Hebert said the Balsams' last renovations occurred more than 40 years ago, and much work needs to be done.  
 
The resort is an extremely complex property and we want to take the proper steps to thoroughly assess what needs to be done. Once we determine necessary renovations, we will unveil our vision for the new Balsams Grand Resort, which will, once again, become a gem of New Hampshire's North Country, he said. We are committed to preserving the jobs of Balsams' employees and the overall economic benefits that the hotel provides the North Country and the state. We recognize closing the hotel over an extended period for renovations will be difficult for employees, but it is absolutely necessary to ensure the resort's longterm viability.  
 
Hebert said Balsams View is committed to employing numerous North Country contractors and workers on the renovation project.  
 
Hebert operates a privately-held general contracting business, Daniel Hebert, Inc., which recently completed an addition to the Coos County Nursing Home in West Stewartstown, and previously completed extensive renovations to Weeks Medical Center in Lancaster.
 
Daniel Dagesse, an entrepreneur, was the owner-operator of automobile dealerships in the Northeast, including Berlin City Dealerships, and later grew a number of auto dealerships in Florida, some of which he later sold.
 
The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel has been in operation for more than 150 years, offering guests fine dining, inviting accommodations, a Donald Ross golf course and unlimited recreational access to its nearly 8,000 acre property.