High Star plans US$100 million bond sale for luxury Utah resort
The development plan includes 168 single-family residences, 150 condos along with 45,000 square-feet of retail space within the condo building
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[NEW YORK] Another developer is turning to the tax-exempt bond market to fund the foundational infrastructure for a new luxury housing-and-retail project along Salt Lake City’s booming ski-resort corridor.
High Star Ventures Development plans to sell US$104.5 million of unrated debt this week, with Piper Sandler as underwriter. Proceeds will finance water and sewer lines and other utilities to ready land for the project east of Deer Valley and less than an hour from the Salt Lake City International Airport.
The offering follows other high-end, mixed-use communities that have sprung up in the area, tapping the municipal-bond market, as the Deer Valley Resort expands its ski terrain. The Deer Valley East Village development, for example, boasts luxury second homes: private villas, townhouses and premium ski-accessible homesites.
“We fit perfectly into that market,” said George Wright, one of the founders of High Star Ventures Development. “But we are also affording people a little bit more space, a little bit more of a rural aspect.”
High Star Ranch is set along the Uinta Mountains that has trails for horseback riding, mountain biking and hiking and fishing ponds.
Tax-exempt municipal bonds are best known for public-purpose projects such as roads, schools and utility systems. But deals like this typically rely on special assessments tied to a defined development area, shifting repayment away from general taxpayers and onto builders and property owners who benefit from the infrastructure.
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While the final maturity is 2055, the developers anticipate repaying the bonds in full by the end of 2029, Benj Becker, managing director at Piper Sandler, said. Assessment fees on the property will repay the debt.
The development plan includes 168 single-family residences, 150 condos along with 45,000 square-feet of retail space within the condo building that will include two restaurants, a rooftop bar, pool and fitness centre, according to bond documents. The site will also offer 17 rental homes and 15 casitas. Separately, a stand-alone retail and rental area for additional shopping called Cowboy Village is also in the plan.
The project is looking to tap into Utah’s growing population, which is expected to reach 5.55 million in 2065 from 3.6 million this year, according to research from the University of Utah’s Kem C Gardner Policy Institute.
Currently, Summit County, where High Star Ranch is located, has a median household income of US$158,989 and nearly 18 per cent of households earn at least US$500,000, according to bond documents for the sale.
Unrated municipal bonds are not automatically high yield, but many trade that way in practice because investors demand extra compensation for uncertainty.
The High Star Ranch offering comes as riskier state and local debt has earned 2.21 per cent in 2026, beating the broader municipal-bond market’s 1.86 per cent advance, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“Smart buyers are certainly looking for great places to invest and this is a great spot to invest in Utah,” Becker said. BLOOMBERG
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