Moonlight Basin Files Chapter 11

Moonlight Basin, a high-end golf-and-ski resort with a partially completed Jack Nicklaus course (pictured), has filed for bankruptcy protection. So reports New West.

The move came just one day before a foreclosure that would have handed the keys of the ambitious Montana development to Lehman Brothers, its primary lender. (Lehman itself declared bankruptcy protection last year.) The bankruptcy should allow six-year-old Moonlight Basin to operate its ski business this season. The fate of its golf course, known as the Reserve, is less clear.

Court documents show Lehman has provided $3.6 million to maintain operations since its $100 million loan to Moonlight Basin went into default last fall. New West cites sources "familiar with the situation" who say the resort's value today is likely less than $50 million, despite appraisals showing it to be worth more than $200 million.

-- P.F.