A whirlwind courtship between a California land developer and Indian Lake Resort in Somerset County is over, a shaky relationship that was long on dreams but short on cash.
Management of the resort on Thursday broke off its relationship with Paul Saint Hilaire and his Golden Hills Development Co., stating that the developer defaulted on a sales agreement to buy the property by failing to provide documentation that his group could financially support the venture.
Last month, Hilaire unveiled plans to buy about 300 acres at Indian Lake - a multimillion-dollar deal that included an 18-hole public golf course and 32-room Indian Lake Lodge - linked with plans to build a non-profit "healing and encouragement" facility, and an English-style retail complex featuring about 55 shops capped by a number of rental apartment units.
Other new elements were to include a conference center, theater facility, orchestra hall, walking trails, a horse riding stable on a nearby farm property and a people-mover type transit system to service up to 10,000 weekend visitors.
Saint Hiliare did not disclose a purchase price for the Indian Lake property or an estimated cost of the development when he initially announced his plans last month.
The land is owned by Northwinds Inc. of Greensburg and is known as Indian Lake Resort, about 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.
It was said the development could have created or retained up to 550 jobs.
Saint Hilaire failed to appear at Monday's planned closing on the sale of the resort. "He (Hilaire) may be legit, but we were uncomfortable because he was unwilling to give us information. He was difficult to deal with from that standpoint," said Mary Lou Remich, marketing director for Indian Lake.
She said the proposed sale agreement was written in such a way that no financial or title exchange of property could occur until Saint Hilaire provided financial documentation, proving he could support the deal.
Ultimately, those documents weren't furnished, which automatically voided the deal.
"At this point, the owners of Indian Lake Resort do not have any intentions of entering into any future business dealings with Mr. Saint Hilaire," Remich said.
She said resort management, in good faith, initially took Hilaire for his word that he intended to buy the resort and operate in a fashion that was good for Indian Lake.
Remich declined to disclose a specific amount of money that was offered for the resort, stating only that it was a "sizable" amount.
Indian Lake Resort, which employs about 25 people, has operated since the 1960s. The resort is owned by members of the Edward Smith family of Greensburg, Remich said.
