Denver, Dec 04: America Online co-founder Steve Case is giving a boost to a Denver startup offering expensive time-share arrangements at multimillion-dollar homes around the world. Case's USD 10 million investment in exclusive resorts gives him a 50 percent share in the company started by brothers Brad and Brent Handler.
“An exclusive resorts membership is like having multiple second homes all over,'' said member Buck Blessing, chief executive of Colorado Springs Real-Estate Investment and development firm Griffis/Blessing Inc.
He recently stayed at A Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, house that was staffed with a cook, concierge, driver and other employees.
The company's portfolio of houses, valued at an average of USD 2.5 million, are in places such as Beaver Creek, New York and Paris.
Members pay a USD 295,000 initiation fee and annual dues ranging from USD 12,000 to 18,000, depending on the number of guaranteed reservations they want in a year.
The company began to accept memberships 10 months ago and now has membership deposits of more than USD 10 million a month, Brad Handler said.
Case, who left his post as chairman and chief executive officer of AOL Time Warner this year, serves on the company's board of directors and as head of a corporate advisory committee.
Bureau Report