| SAN FRANCISCO, CA � April 5, 2004 � Today Contact
Development Corporation (CDC), headquartered in San Francisco, California,
with offices in Mexico City, and Private Residence Resorts, LLC (PRR),
headquartered in Sun Valley, Idaho with offices in Seattle, Washington,
announced that they have formed a strategic alliance to provide complete
�turn-key� development services, including equity capital and debt financing,
for mixed-use resort/residential projects that are to be sold on
both a whole ownership and fractional ownership basis with the services
and amenities of a luxury hotel. CDC and PRR will pursue development
opportunities within master planned resort/residential communities as well
as on very unique �infill� sites in established resort town destinations.
These development services will be offered to certain master planned community
developers and land owners of unique sites who are in need of a third party
developer with expertise to finance and develop a fully serviced and �amenitized�
residential project that incorporates both whole ownership and fractional
ownership options. CDC and PRR will soon be announcing their first
mixed-use development project under this new strategic alliance. .
Combining the expertise of CDC and PRR, this strategic alliance will offer turn-key services to master developers and land owners for the development of mixed-use whole and fractional interest ownership resort/residential projects including: site selection via acquisition or joint venture contribution, project design, development financing, project development, marketing and sales, as well as the management and ongoing operation of such projects on behalf of the owners of the fractional and whole ownership interests. For master developers and land owners interested in taking advantage of CDC and PRR�s strategic alliance services and willing to contribute a development parcel for such use, a joint venture structure would be implemented; however, direct land acquisition by CDC and PRR may be a possible option as well. Says David G. Ellsworth, Chairman & CEO of CDC, �It has become apparent to us that mixed use resort/residential projects, incorporating both whole and fractional interest ownership options, are becoming an integral component of many master planned resort/residential community projects in the USA, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Europe and elsewhere and we will pursue opportunities in such established key markets specifically including mountain, beach and golf destinations�. While this strategic alliance will focus predominantly on high-end, luxury projects, excellent opportunities exist and will be pursued in mid-to-high level projects as well. Projects developed under this strategic alliance will be named individually but branded with the �Private Residence Resort� brand which is currently being used at PRR�s two existing projects unless, if integrated and marketed as part of a hotel development, the use of the hotel brand name makes more sense. Michael Burns, President of PRR, states that �the demographic profile of the second home buyer market has shown important signs of increasing demand for the fractional interest product as a viable and sensible option for a vacation home, due principally to the practicality, value, ease of use and added amenities of the fractional interest product.� The high-end fractional interest component makes up an important component for the second home buyer market and these fractional interest projects are designed to have all the services and amenities of a luxury hotel or private high-end country club which is what many buyers want when buying a second home or vacation residence in their own country, and especially if buying in a foreign country. The hassle free and service oriented approach is an attractive and competitive option for which many buyers are looking. While everyone is familiar with the benefits of whole ownership, the fractional interest option has two significant advantages: paying for the amount of time that will actually be utilized and professional management and operation of the residence. The combination of developing and marketing both whole and fractional interest options in the same mixed use project allows the CDC/PRR strategic alliance to be able to offer the best of both worlds and creates synergies that would not be possible if the projects were developed individually. CDC brings over 30 years of development, financing, legal and marketing and sales expertise of whole ownership resort/residential projects at a domestic and international level to this strategic alliance while PRR brings over 30 years of development, marketing and sales and operational experience of high-end fractional and time share projects. While this is not an exclusive strategic alliance, in that each company may continue to pursue its own projects, when there exists the opportunity for a mixed-use component of both whole and fractional interest ownership, this newly formed strategic alliance will jointly pursue each opportunity. About Contact Development Corporation
David G. Ellsworth, the Chairman & CEO of Contact Development Corporation, has been intimately involved in the development of numerous resort and private residential master-planned communities world wide. The various capacities he has fulfilled range from overseeing the development itself to facilitating the necessary equity and debt capital for the development and/or acquisition of the project; from creating and directing the legal structuring of a project to partnering with project developers to ensure the successful development of resort master-planned communities. For more information about CDC: http://www.cdcglobal.com About Private Residence Resorts, LLC PRR is one of the leading developers of fractional interest ownership projects and is the development and management company behind the successful and award winning Les Saisons, a luxury fractional interest property located in Sun Valley, Idaho, as well as Hearthstone at Spring Mountain Ranch in McCall, Idaho. PRR�s founder, owner and President, Michael Burns, is a pioneer in the fractional interest sector, with over twenty years of exceptional experience in the development, sales, marketing and operation of fractional interest and time share projects. Prior to founding PRR, Michael Burns had accumulated over twenty (20) years in the time share industry, most recently as President and COO of Vacation Internationale, where, in addition to successfully developing, operating and selling hundreds of millions of dollars of time share condominiums, he successfully packaged and sold the company in 1997. Other important positions included eight (8) years as Vice President and General Manager of the Walt Disney Company�s Time Share/Vacation Club subsidiary where Michael was instrumental in developing Disney�s time share business from the ground up, and six (6) years as Director of Marketing and Sales for Marriott Ownership Resorts. For more information about PRR: http://www.prr.net |
