Riverwalk at Loon, Lincoln NH

[mopsy]

Toured Riverwalk, brand new fractional ownership being built at Loon Mtn NH. 1st phase is still just steel framing, studs, and cement stairs with few windows installed. If you tour, wear a heavy jacket and sensible shoes, they'll give you a hard hat. No model condo set up yet ( not till December) which I thought was odd. The real estate office has a few small pictures and a board showing fabric swatches and pieces of tille and flooring but no complete picture of a finished condo. It's aim is to be high-end with onsite restaurant and wine store, owners longe, large outdoor heated pool that partly converts to skating rink in winter.
Anyone else out there toured this place?

 

[WinniWoman]

Toured Riverwalk, brand new fractional ownership being built at Loon Mtn NH. 1st phase is still just steel framing, studs, and cement stairs with few windows installed. If you tour, wear a heavy jacket and sensible shoes, they'll give you a hard hat. No model condo set up yet ( not till December) which I thought was odd. The real estate office has a few small pictures and a board showing fabric swatches and pieces of tille and flooring but no complete picture of a finished condo. It's aim is to be high-end with onsite restaurant and wine store, owners longe, large outdoor heated pool that partly converts to skating rink in winter.
Anyone else out there toured this place?

We have been up that way 3 times this year and watched the construction. Have been on the website and reviewed the brochure, but I really don't see the point of touring something that isn't completed yet.

Not that we would even remotely consider buying there. We own at Innseason Pollard Brook which is the same developer and that place is good enough for us for vacationing in that area. Blue Green South Mountain is right there in front of Riverwalk and is nice enough as well.

Honestly, I can't believe they are even building that thing. It's expensive to buy into!

 

[SMHarman]

We have been up that way 3 times this year and watched the construction. Have been on the website and reviewed the brochure, but I really don't see the point of touring something that isn't completed yet.

Not that we would even remotely consider buying there. We own at Innseason Pollard Brook which is the same developer and that place is good enough for us for vacationing in that area. Blue Green South Mountain is right there in front of Riverwalk and is nice enough as well.

Honestly, I can't believe they are even building that thing. It's expensive to buy into!

Enough will. LOON is a top East coast ski destination and in the bloomer, groomer, destination model is certainly a location a Ski family would own a fractional to visit multiple times a season to groom the kids.

Just look at the development at stowe and Killington and sugarbush and Jay peak as the model they are following.

Don't do it and you are just another magic mountain or ascutny.

There ate plenty in Boston with the disposable for 1/4 share.

 

[WinniWoman]

I've seen at Smuggs where fractional owners buy counting on having rental income for the times they are not using their unit, only to realize that it is easier said then done. If they have the money and don't need the rental income more power to them.

Yeah- the one in Stowe is gorgeous/over the top. It's just so hard for me to wrap my head around the idea that this many families have that much disposable income in this day and age. To me- mind-boggling.

 

[mopsy]

We stayed 2 nights at InnSeasons Pollard Brook and it was updated and comfy. Would also like to visit BlueGreen next time in area.

Just over a million bucks is the going rate to outright own the Penthouse or Presidential Suite @ Riverwalk. YIKES! Someone out there really does have disposable income!! And it'll be a few years before the ski trails and lifts are installed behind the condos.

I'm not seeing Lincoln NH as being in the same league as Stowe VT/ Smuggs.

 

[mdurette]

We are also regular visitors of Lincoln and will always be one of my favorite vacations (summer or winter). I made an inquiry about Riverwalk via their website about a year ago, based on simply curiosity and have had a sales rep follow up with me from time to time. It is not for us as I don't want to "own" something and feel that I have to use it and spend vacations there all the time.

My last conversation with the sales rep (who is no pressure and very nice) went something like....Looks like a lovely place, but we already own TS and although I'm in the market for another, this isn't the place because it is too much of a commitment and money for us.

Her response was interesting: She said developer owns a lot of TS (true) and has a lot of connections in the TS world (again true). He may be willing to buy all your TS weeks as part of this deal. Her reasoning is from a MF fee point of view if I sell him my weeks that cost xxx/year in fees, then I could have a fractional ownership there for the same cost per year. But, own so many more weeks to use or trade. Interesting, but that still doesn't do anything about upfront cost.

In the end...I personally see RCI being flooded with Riverwalk either via developer inventor or owner deposit. As mentioned....same developer already owns Pollard Brook in the area and I have never had an issue getting into that resort via RCI. Even high demand weeks like xmas/New Years. presidents week and summer.

For us....we will just wait patiently for the inventory to start coming in via RCI and in the meantime enjoy BG South Mountain (my favorite) and Pollard Brook.

 

[Bwolf]

IMHO, Mdurette and mopsy and mpumilia are spot on.


Lincoln is already overbuilt. Riverwalk may sell to those who can afford it, but the rest of us who own in the area are seeing our current ownership being devalued.

Also, there are many fractional ownerships in the area that might be less expensive to purchase if you both have an interest and know how to research such things. So far as I know, these ownerships are not associated with an exchange company or they are associated with an exclusive exchange company.

BTW, the same developer built South Mountain and had to sell it to Bluegreen.

 

[WinniWoman]

IMHO, Mdurette and mopsy and mpumilia are spot on.


Lincoln is already overbuilt. Riverwalk may sell to those who can afford it, but the rest of us who own in the area are seeing our current ownership being devalued.

Also, there are many fractional ownerships in the area that might be less expensive to purchase if you both have an interest and know how to research such things. So far as I know, these ownerships are not associated with an exchange company or they are associated with an exclusive exchange company.

BTW, the same developer built South Mountain and had to sell it to Bluegreen.

I find it interesting that he HAD to sell it to Blue Green. Maybe only because he needed the dough to build Riverwalk. (?)

 

[Bwolf]

I find it interesting that he HAD to sell it to Blue Green. Maybe only because he needed the dough to build Riverwalk. (?)

He's been trying to build Riverwalk for quite a while, but the "had to" part of the sale probably had more to do with the downturn in the economy and his being overextended. I wish I could remember or find on the internet when the sale happened.

 

[SMHarman]

I've seen at Smuggs where fractional owners buy counting on having rental income for the times they are not using their unit, only to realize that it is easier said then done. If they have the money and don't need the rental income more power to them.

Yeah- the one in Stowe is gorgeous/over the top. It's just so hard for me to wrap my head around the idea that this many families have that much disposable income in this day and age. To me- mind-boggling.

Smuggs. The lifts are too damn slow. Fixed double chairs. That far North is just mean. Not traditional or whatever they say.

Stowe is 6 plus hrs from NYC and 3.5 h from Boston.

Lincoln is 2.5 hours from Boston. That's a sweet distance. Even Hunter is over 3j from NY

 

[mdurette]

He's been trying to build Riverwalk for quite a while, but the "had to" part of the sale probably had more to do with the downturn in the economy and his being overextended. I wish I could remember or find on the internet when the sale happened.

I wish I could remember the year....but I noticed in Pollard Brook up on the wall going downstairs from the lobby is a newspaper article about Riverwalk.....all I can remember thinking was wow, that was many, many moons ago he got permission to build.

 

[mdurette]

yeah know...I'm really not that sure that Denise doesn't have his hand in South Mountain anymore. A quick scan of Lincoln planning board minutes still has his name all over South Mountain stuff.

 

[WinniWoman]

yeah know...I'm really not that sure that Denise doesn't have his hand in South Mountain anymore. A quick scan of Lincoln planning board minutes still has his name all over South Mountain stuff.

I believe Dennis still owns some units at South Mountain. Why, I don't know.

 

[Bwolf]

I'm sure Dennis has involvement in South Mountain. But it is a Bluegreen operation. Perhaps he acts on behalf of Bluegreen for local town issues, such as the planning board stuff?

Also, there is some InnSeason Resorts South Mountains availability through Interval. People who bought before the Bluegreen purchase are probably still in the InnSeason camp. The many and varied types of ownership are probably a real headache.

Here's a Bluegreen reference:

"Bluegreen Vacations South Mountain, Ascend Resort Collection in Lincoln, NH

Get a taste of New Hampshire when you stay at this Bluegreen Vacations South Mountain, Ascend Resort Collection® hotel in Lincoln, NH."

 

[WinniWoman]

I'm sure Dennis has involvement in South Mountain. But it is a Bluegreen operation. Perhaps he acts on behalf of Bluegreen for local town issues, such as the planning board stuff?

Also, there is some InnSeason Resorts South Mountains availability through Interval. People who bought before the Bluegreen purchase are probably still in the InnSeason camp. The many and varied types of ownership are probably a real headache.

Here's a Bluegreen reference:

"Bluegreen Vacations South Mountain, Ascend Resort Collection in Lincoln, NH

Get a taste of New Hampshire when you stay at this Bluegreen Vacations South Mountain, Ascend Resort Collection® hotel in Lincoln, NH."

I got a South Mountain trade last year through DAE.

 

[Bwolf]

I got a South Mountain trade last year through DAE.

We keep looking at DAE but we just made a deposit of our trading resort thru VRI*ety. Had good luck going to Maui. DAE is an interesting option.

 

[WinniWoman]

We keep looking at DAE but we just made a deposit of our trading resort thru VRI*ety. Had good luck going to Maui. DAE is an interesting option.

Yes. And my last trade was through Trading Places which has the same inventory as VRI*ety. I traded my Smuggs floater for Pollard Brook (and into my own unit there!). I made the trade before I ever owned at Pollard Brook, which is why I didn't use VRI*ety.

My DAE trade was also a Smuggs Floater into South Mountain.

(I love going to the Highland Games in Sept.)

 

[mdurette]

I got a South Mountain trade last year through DAE.

I got a HUGE score with II for South Mountain. Presidents week. Which is also school vacation week in the area. Prime ski week. I put in an OGS and it matched up.

 

[tonyg]

I remember what Lincoln was like when I first stayed there in the 70's. The buildup since then has been ongoing. Back then there was nothing on the side of the river from where South Mountain is to Loon's entrance. No Mcdonalds, no chain drug store. Not sure when they built Pollard Brook or the other timeshares in the area. First timeshare stay in the area was at the Inns of Waterville Valley in the early 80's. Even bought a week there and then only to rescind the next day after some financial analysis. Stayed at the Kancagamus Motor lodge in the pre-timeshare days. Since then we have stayed at 4 different timeshares in Lincoln, with Pollard being the best.

Liked it back then, still like it, but miss the old more rural town and countryside.

 

[momof399]

Bumping this thread. Wondering if anyone has bought a fraction or season at Riverwalk? If so, what has your experience been with your own usage and rentals. Seems pricey, but everything else in Loon area is so 1980's. We are not interested in the TS only or vacation club properties such as Pollard Brook and South Mountain Bluegreen. It's proximity to Boston can't be beat compared to some of the other ski areas. Stayed there recently, beautiful property and if the Loon expansion goes as planned it will eventually be a ski in/out property.

 

[mdurette]

I don't know anyone that has and my circle of friends all head to Lincoln at various times throughout the year and most would have the financial means to make it work.

We did stay there this past winter - I found the place to be very nice. The studio we were in had a beautiful kitchen and bath - but the living area set up was a bit strange. I did peak into the larger units - they are very nice.

But, even though it was nice - I still think my "go-to" resorts will be South Mountain and Pollard (especially for winter) - even if RW is available.

Pollard has better activities - maybe RW will get here some day.
South Mountain - better pool set up for winter use. RW pool is mostly outside and no chairs were around it. As a parent you either had to go in the pool or stand out in the cold to watch your kid.

I'm amazed that RCI isn't flooded with weeks deposited from owners.
With fractional/seasonal ownership there has got to be weeks that are going unused especially during their off months.

 

[WinniWoman]

We did tour it after it was completed and asked about full ownership just for "Ha- Ha's". Whatever the salesman told us didn't seem quite right- no big surprise!

I personally would never buy a full or fractional ownership at a timeshare resort and be locked into whatever happens there in the future- but that's just me. Not that we could afford it anyway...