Sterling Bay Companies, a Chicago-based real estate investment and development firm, purchased the Victory Ranch Club development from an affiliate of Wells Fargo Bank on May 3rd, 2012. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Victory Ranch is a nearly 6,500 acre luxury home development located near Park City, Utah on the Upper Provo River, spanning both Summit and Wasatch Counties. It is home to an 18-hole Rees Jones championship golf course with panoramic views of the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains, Deer Valley ski resort, the Provo River and Jordanelle Reservoir. The development includes approvals for more than 650 units, but new ownership is contemplating reducing density and strategically re-positioning the ranch within the next 12 months.

“We are excited at the opportunity to further improve what we believe to be the most beautiful piece of property in Utah,” stated Andy Gloor, a principal at Sterling Bay.

The Victory Ranch golf course will be an exclusive, private course opening on May 12th, 2012.

Michelle Eastman and Brigid Flint of Summit Sotheby’s International Realty represented the buyers in the purchase.

Founded in 1986, Sterling Bay has extensive expertise in the acquisition, financing, leasing, and management of commercial property across a broad spectrum of asset types and sizes. The firm’s investment philosophy is to identify undervalued or overlooked opportunities with significant value-add components.

“The Scream” will be on the block at Sotheby’s on May 2, the highlight of the Impressionist and modern evening sale in New York. Sotheby’s experts anticipate the work will fetch more than $80 million, the highest presale figure the auction house has ever set.

The androgynous wraith grasping its cheeks in dread along an Oslo fiord, created by the Norwegian artist in 1895, is an unpredictable trophy with little precedent, famous as much for the pop-culture spinoffs and parodies it has generated as it is for its artistry. One of four versions of “The Scream” that Munch created, this is the only one not in an Oslo museum and the first to ever come up at auction. Sotheby’s is betting big on the work: The auction house could either take credit for selling one of the most expensive artworks ever at auction, or risk embarrassment if its expectations prove too high.

View the complete article at wsj.com

Sotheby's International Realty Reside Magazine 2012

Welcome to the newest edition of RESIDE magazine, the luxury home and lifestyle magazine presented by the Sotheby’s International Realty brand. Real estate, as they say, is all about location. And so it is with our first issue of RESIDE® magazine for 2012. Re-engineered to feature even more of our vast, global inventory of extraordinary homes, this issue takes you all over the world, because your dream home is as likely found around the corner as it is in some of the most far-reaching parts of the world. RESIDE is a celebration of the creative imagination between home, art and living. And as always, this issue of RESIDE showcases 165 pages of exclusive listings only represented by the Sotheby’s International Realty network. View our exclusive Summit Sotheby’s International Realty listings in Utah on pages 169 through 174.

Click on this link to view our showcase of homes.  http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/cdf7af6e#/cdf7af6e/1

NOW is A Great Time to Buy at Promontory!

Karin Wilson, a member of the Executive staff at Promontory, says NOW is the time to buy at Promontory! ” We all want to make good decisions when it comes to buying Real Estate, especially when it’s intended to be a place for our family to create lasting, inter-generational memories.  Most of us have stayed on the sidelines, in spite of great deals, waiting for a sign that it’s time to start paddling in order to catch the next wave.  Now, at long last, the signs are pointing to recovery in the markets and we’re beginning to consider grabbing something for ourselves while pricing is still great.  WSJ.online reports that 71% of the people surveyed by Fannie Mae in December think that now is a good time to buy a house.  Sure, maybe you missed some of the screaming deals, but now that the uncertainty is out of the picture, you can confidently make a move that you and your family will appreciate for generations.”

So why Promontory, when there are lots of other private golf and recreational communities out there?  You might think that you could still get a bargain at a number of other recreational communities, but none compare to Promontory! Karin says, “Promontory’s exclusive  Pete Dye Golf Clubhouse with  luxurious locker rooms and Hearth, a fine dining restaurant make a day of golf to remember.  The kids love the  “Kid’s Only” Cabin. Ski in and ski out with our members only  Deer Valley Ski Lodge joined with our retired winter, Olympian, will make your day complete on the slopes. The beautiful  Equestrian Center is state of the art. The main clubhousewith its  year-round heated pool is one of the many amenities offered to club members.  It’s clear to see the difference — at Promontory, it’s all here, now.  Promontory just celebrated its 10-year anniversary and our promise of “More Country, More Club” is a promise delivered.”

Continuing with promises delivered, Karin reminds us that “Promontory continues to grow and innovate.  Last July we broke ground on our newest amenity, The Shed. This 15,000 square foot facility is a place for the whole family.  This July, when it’s complete, Promontory’s members will enjoy its Art Studio, Movie Theater, Outdoor Amphitheater, Indoor Basketball arena and nostalgic Soda Fountain.  The casual restaurant will be filled with all sorts of games, from Pac Man and billiards to two full lanes of bowling.”

Promontory is located in Park City, Utah, just 30 minutes from Salt Lake International Airport, without a single stoplight to slow you down.  Park City is home to two of the top 5 Ski Resorts in North America, Deer Valley and Park City Mountain Resort.  Both have Utah’s signature Champagne Powder, dubbed the greatest snow on earth.  Park City’s Main Street is home to a number of great shops, restaurants and bars, and is flanked by the Brew Pub on the top of the street and the Whiskey Distillery at the bottom of the street.  In fact, Park City is the top selling community for 2011 in the Rocky Mountain Resort Alliance, including the top ski communities of the Western United States.

So don’t wait to start looking for your vacation home –NOW is the time!  Promontory has made the decision an easy one for you and your family.

If you would like to learn more about Promontory, please visit our website at www.promontoryclub.com.  Our sales team  is happy to show you why NOW is the time to buy!

The CEO Keller Williams Park City has left to join Summit Sotheby’s International Realty.

David Johnson, who was a highly respected real-estate attorney before becoming a broker in 2005, will become managing broker at the Park City branch of Summit Sotheby’s.

Thomas Wright will continue as president and principal broker, but Johnson will manage day-to-day affairs, including the training of agents.

“He will do what David Johnson has become so respected for: helping agents and working with clients,” Wright said.

Johnson is well respected for his customer-service skills, Wright said.

“He’s the best problem solver agents have ever worked with. He wants a transaction to work and will make it work for everyone,” he added.

According to his biographical information on the Keller Williams website, Johnson gave legal counsel to the Utah Association of Realtors, the Park City Board of Realtors, and even led the Utah Division of Real Estate prior to becoming a broker. Many of the forms Realtors use today were written by Johnson.

Wright said his company recruited Johnson and believes many of their peers will recognize it was a good move for him.

“He has friends in all the brokerage firms, and they’ll respect his decision because they respect him so much. You want your friends to make the best decision for them,” he said.

Johnson was on vacation when reached Thursday, but gave this comment: “The Sotheby’s brand is associated with quality. Their offices in

Park City and Salt Lake have an outstanding group of experienced agents, and I am particularly impressed with their leadership and energy. I look forward to assisting Sotheby’s in their commitment to providing the highest level of real estate brokerage services available.”

See the full article at the Park Records website – www.parkrecord.com

LuxuryRealEstate.com, a Webby Award Honoree, has been voted ‘Best of the Web’ by Forbes magazine multiple times, praised by the International Herald Tribune, Town & Country, the Wall Street Journal and has been ranked ‘Best Website’ by consumers according to surveys by the Luxury Institute. Since its debut in 1995,LuxuryRealEstate.com has remained the #1 portal for luxury properties on the internet, consistently driving more traffic to member websites and generating more qualified inquiries than any other website.LuxuryRealEstate.com has several times more $1,000,000+ content of any near-peer.

Honors & Awards

• Best of the Web and ‘Forbes Favorite’ by Forbes magazine for eight consecutive years
• Ranked #1 luxury real estate website by consumers and the Luxury Institute LLC
• Ranked #1 in searches for “luxury real estate” (as well as other similar terms) on popular search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, and MSN
• Webby Award Honoree

Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate

Known in the industry for the last quarter-century as the Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate network, a global collection of the finest luxury real estate brokers in the world, this group of more than 70,000 professionals in more than 85 countries collectively sells in excess of $190 billion of real estate annually, with an average sale price of $2,450,000. Members sell homes for record prices and handle transactions of incredible complexity and magnitude with complete discretion. Every member is carefully selected by CEO/Publisher John Brian Losh, one of REALTOR Magazine’s 25 Most Influential People in Real Estate and broker of fine properties and estates through his Seattle-based brokerage firm, Ewing & Clark, Inc.

Summit Sotheby’s felt it was important to partner with LuxuryRealEstate.com and showcase our premier listings on the world’s leading luxury real estate portal.

The mountain living lifestyle conjures up images of snow-capped trees and ski adventures. But one of the best kept secrets of the mountain region is its appreciation of its culture—and the way it is celebrated. The towns of Sun Valley, Idaho, and Park City, Utah, prove that while skiing may bring you in, their summer activities will convince you to stay.

Under the Stars and Mountaintops

Park City is known as a world-class mountain resort and as the venue for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. But what many may not know is that Park City also offers some of the most entertaining arts and concerts under the stars and mountaintops.

From outdoor Utah Symphony concerts to the Kimball Arts Festival and Deer Valley Music Festival, music is in the air. Those who appreciate the culinary arts enjoy “Savor the Summit,” also known as Park City’s longest dinner party. It is a unique dining experience designed to kick off the summer season, with one long table set in the middle of historic Main Street so Park City’s finest restaurants can showcase their best dishes in an open-air atmosphere.

Historic Main Street brings the Old West back to life. Many of the buildings on Main Street that can be found on Main Street today date from the 1860s, when Park City was founded as a silver-mining town. Today, Main Street is home to shops, fine dining, art galleries, bars and live music establishments.

“Buyers have recognized that now is the ideal time to purchase in Park City,” said Thomas Wright, broker, Summit Sotheby’s Inter- national Realty in Park City. “Our firm is seeing an increase in the number of units we are selling as compared to previous years. For those wondering when the right time to buy is, that time is now. Great properties at spectacular prices are readily available.”

One of the most stunning homes in Park City is available through Summit Sotheby’s International Realty. With panoramic vistas of the surrounding mountains, this incredible home invites the outdoors in.

View more at http://online.wsj.com/ad/article/sir-brand?WC=HPBRThumb