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Shadow Mountain Clubhouse buyer plans new housing units for Craig building

Lauren Blair
Chip Bennett signs on the dotted line Tuesday morning after submitting a winning bid for the county-owned Shadow Mountain Clubhouse. Based in Edwards, Bennett and his wife, Lisa Bennett, operate Bravo Tango, LLC, which will purchase the property west of Craig for $201,000.99 and convert it into housing units.
Lauren Blair |

The county-owned Shadow Mountain Clubhouse has finally found a buyer after a second auction, which concluded Tuesday morning with the opening of two sealed bids in the Moffat County Commissioners’ chambers.

The first bid was for $170,500 by the Craig Menonite Church, just over the county’s minimum bid requirement of $169,900.

The second and winning bid came in at $201,000.99 from Bravo Tango, LLC, a husband-wife team based in Edwards comprised of Albert “Chip” Bennett and Lisa Bennett.



The couple plans to remodel the 8,890-square-foot clubhouse to create residential housing. Plans for the rest of the 3.81-acre property have yet to be made.

“The structure is sound, and for our preliminary plans, we’re looking at about 10 units,” Chip Bennett said, adding they would be two-bedroom units.



Chip Bennett noted that the location near The Memorial Hospital and Colorado Northwestern Community College was part of the appeal of the property.

“I think this will be really good for the community,” said Commissioner Ray Beck. “I think maybe there’s some potential there for the college… I think it’s a win-win for them and the county, really the taxpayers, and I think they’ll put it to good use.”

The Bennetts reside in Edwards with their three young children and Chip’s mother, and own one other property in Moffat County — the Wild Skies rental cabins located off U.S. Highway 40 near Moffat County Road 30 just west of Craig — and another cabin in the Flat Tops wilderness.

They plan to begin work on the project immediately upon closing, Chip said. The commissioners agreed to extend the closing date to Sept. 14 — though it was originally set for July 31 — in order to provide enough time for a commercial appraisal, though closing may happen sooner if possible.

The buyers were required to provide a non-refundable 20-percent deposit, amounting to $40,200.20 Tuesday.

“We’re excited about it,” said Moffat County Director of Development Roy Tipton. “We’d hoped the winning bidder would get it back on the tax roll. We would have happily sold it the church as well, but are happy to have it back on the tax roll.”

The clubhouse was first put to auction May 24 with a minimum bid of $250,000, but no bids were made.


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