Feb. 24, 2011--Great Wolf Resorts has a "conditional agreement" to sell the Blue Harbor Resort & Conference Center in Sheboygan to a "highly qualified potential buyer," spokesman Steve Shattuck said. He would not disclose the buyer's identity.

Shattuck said the deal is not final and depends on "several contingencies" as well as approval of the city of Sheboygan, Great Wolf's board of directors and the buyer. If the plan goes through, it could be completed by the end of March.

Blue Harbor has been listed for sale since May and has generated "quite a bit of interest," Shattuck said. Built as part of a planned brownfield revitalization along the Lake Michigan shore, Blue Harbor has not performed as well as expected since it opened in 2004, Great Wolf officials have said.

The city of Sheboygan loaned Great Wolf $4 million toward construction costs and invested $8 million in a conference center, which the city will continue to own, Shattuck said. Great Wolf has taken two impairment charges against the property, including a $24 million non-cash charge in 2009.

In addition to Blue Harbor, Great Wolf, a Madison indoor waterpark development company, owns 11 other resort properties in the U.S. and Canada.

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