McCall’s Whitetail resort sold to Idaho businessmen. The terms were not disclosed
This story was originally published on Aug. 29, 2008.
Whitetail Club and Resort in McCall has been sold to a partnership of Idaho businessmen that includes the son-in-law of previous owner Douglas “Papa Doug” Manchester and the grandson of Joe Albertson.
The sale comes nearly two decades after Manchester, a San Diego developer, bought what was then called Shore Lodge and spent tens of millions of dollars renovating the lodge and adding an 18-hole golf course and housing development.
Whitetail was sold to a company headed by Whitetail President John Sabala and Alscott Real Estate LLC of Boise.
Sabala has been married to one of Manchester’s daughters, Katie, since 1995 and was hired as resort president 31/2 years ago.
Alscott Real Estate is headed by Joe Scott, the chairman of the the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation and is the grandson of Joe Albertson, who founded the Albertsons supermarket chain in 1939.
Terms of the sale were not disclosed. Sabala said Alscott Real Estate is the majority owner, while Sabala’s company, Sabala Whitetail LLC, is the minority owner.
Making a profit has been “a challenge,” Sabala said. But occupancy rates have been on the rise, as have bookings for meetings, weddings, family reunions and other events, he said.
The new owners have not yet had time to come up with plans for changes in operations or additional improvements, but announcements will be coming soon, Sabala, 39, told the Star-News in McCall.
The sale includes Whitetail Lodge, built in 1948 on the shore of Payette Lake and improved since.
It also includes Ema’s and The Narrows restaurants; the private, 18-hole Whitetail Golf Course; and undeveloped property.
About 125 people work at the lodge and golf course during the summer and 70 in the winter, Sabala said.
Manchester retains his vacation home located just west of the lodge plus four investment homes.
Among the San Diego projects built by Manchester are the Marriott and Grand Hyatt hotel towers that dominate the city’s waterfront and the $270 million, 249-room Grand Del Mar Hotel and golf course in Carmel Valley that opened last year.
This story was originally published November 19, 2019 at 3:35 PM.