timeshare news

Here’s further proof that timesharing is a solid business concept

Owner’s Pass, LLC, a San Francisco Bay area company, barely one year old, is taking the concept of timesharing to the world of professional sports. The luxury suites and skyboxes in most major arenas are utilized only about 50 percent of the time. The cost to lease them for a year is often so steep that many companies pass on sports suites as an option for entertaining their present and prospective clientele. But as John Arledge, CEO and founder of Owner’s Pass explains, “Timesharing is a proven business model that has been successful for other expensive assets such as vacation real estate, corporate aviation, and luxury yachts. We saw the opportunity to extend that model to sports where companies were losing tens of thousands of dollars to under-utilized suites.”

The concept of Owner’s Pass enables companies to use sports suites as much or as little as their schedules permit. Instead of owning a suite for a full sports season, a company can now select specific events to attend, giving them greater control over both their time and their dollars.

Imagine. Ownership privileges and flexibility, while paying for only the time you actually use…now that’s a great idea!

ESPN and NBC will combine to provide daily coverage for all four rounds of the US Open

Instead of that recliner in your living room, wouldn’t you like to watch the US Open from the gallery? So here your head’s up: the 2007 US Open site will be Oakmont, Pennsylvania; 2008 at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, California; 2009 at Bethpage State Park, Farmingdale, New York; 2010 at Pebble Beach, Pebble Beach, California; and 2011 will be at Congressional in Bethesda, Maryland.

Start planning. There are fabulous timeshare resorts in all of these locations, and with a little skillful exchanging, you could be off the couch and on the course when golfing history is made.

The first steel-frame skyscraper in San Francisco, the Chronicle Building will house 52 residential condo units and 49 fractionals.

The Ritz-Carlton Club, a timeshare division of the well-respected hotels, announced Monday that it has accepted “sales reservations” totalling $106 million USD for fractional condos in downtown San Francisco. The location is the former Chronicle building at 690 Market Street.

Originally built in 1889, the landmark piece of architectural history started life with a brick face and was famous for being the first steel-frame skyscraper in San Francisco. During the 1960s it was “modernized” with steel panels which covered its surface. But about a year ago, those shiny coverings were removed to reveal its intended classic exterior. Eight floors have been added as part of the extensive $90 million project to transform the building into fractionals, otherwise known as luxury timeshares.

Local preservationists are enthusiastic about the transformation of the former headquarters of the San Francisco Chronicle. The building has survived numerous earthquakes, including the devastating 1906 quake which leveled most of the city.

Welcome back, beautiful building!

And welcome home to those who will reside in the 52 residences and 49 fractionals. Currently there are 57 interested buyers for the fractionals, which start at $200,000 for a one-twelfth share of a unit, and there are 45 interested buyers for the traditional condos which range from $1.2 million to $5 million.

If you scheduled New York timeshare this week, you could be on the eighteenth green to see the winning putt at the 2006 US Open

This week the United States Golf Association returns to Winged Foot, hosting the US Open Golf Championship. For only the fifth time since 1929, the prestigious event will be contested on the challenging fairways and greens of the Mamaroneck, New York golf course. To give you an idea just how difficult a US Open at Winged Foot can be, only Fuzzy Zoeller in 1984, claimed his win with a total score below par—267 for four grueling rounds of golf.

So on Sunday afternoon, who will walk away with the trophy and the winner’s share of the 6.2 million dollar purse? It might be Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson. It might even be 52-year old Jay Haas, who only three weeks ago claimed his first major title at the Senior PGA Championship. And this year’s winner could even be long shot, 15-year old Tadd Fujikawa, (the second youngest qualifier in the event’s history) who claimed the lone entry spot at the sectional qualifier in Hawaii.

But in tiny Mamaroneck, New York, where every hotel and motel room has been sold-out for months in anticipation of this great golfing event, the real winners will be the timeshare owners who planned ahead and exchanged their weeks for New York timeshares.