Ralph O. Walton III
© 2018
Ralph Outlaw Walton III is an experienced developer and operator of first class private clubs and resort communities with demonstrated success in start-up and turnaround situations. He led the launches of three large scale, amenity-based developments in Colorado and Montana in addition to working in professional services firms in New York and Europe after college and graduate school.
From 1993-2002, Walton was a senior executive at Crested Butte Mountain Resort (www.skicb.com), Colorado’s eighth largest ski area. After serving as CFO for two years, all ski and hospitality operations were reorganized under his supervision. During this time, his team converted two owned hotels to Marriott and Sheraton franchises, which achieved national recognition for top-tier service excellence performance. In 2000, Walton was promoted to President of CBMR’s real estate subsidiary where he led the development activities of four major projects. Most notable was Prospect, a $135 million, 400-acre ski-in/out community obtained in a historic land exchange, which he annexed into the Town of Mt. Crested Butte.
Walton repeated the finance-operations-development progression at three subsequent projects in Montana. In 2002, he accepted the CFO role for Spanish Peaks Holdings, owner of two ski-in/out properties in Big Sky: Spanish Peaks (www.spanish-peaks.com), a 3,500-acre, 850-home new private club with Weiskopf signature golf, and Lone Moose Meadows, 400 residences planned on 360 acres. With sales of over $200 million and 200 new members during the first two years, Walton opened Spanish Peaks’ club operations, including food and beverage, skiing and golf, property management outfitter and security.
In 2006, Walton was recruited to lead the development of Saddlehorn (www.saddlehorn.com), an 800-acre equestrian and lake community and club in northwest Montana planned for 364 homes clustered to preserve 50% open space. He spearheaded the legal and financial frameworks, planning and entitlements, marketing programs, horizontal development, amenity construction and club operations. Sales out-performed comparable mountain projects amidst the economic meltdown.
In 2009, Walton co-founded Cedar House Partners, which was conceived as an investment vehicle for resort-based real estate. However, in response to inquiries from banks, investors and other property owners in North America, Europe and South America the firm also offers real estate advisory services. All of this work leverages Walton’s entrepreneurial thinking on all things real estate, his operational experience and consulting background.
Walton completed his undergraduate studies at Duke University in 1985 and earned an MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business in 1988. He is a longstanding member of the Urban Land Institute’s Recreation Development Council and the Idaho District Council Advisory Board. Walton holds real estate broker licenses in Montana, Idaho and Colorado.
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