Turns out they haven't been paid in weeks as a legal tussle between two groups of creditors threatens to bring operations at the ritzy resort to a standstill.
The upscale development sprawls across 7,000 acres and comprises 1,924 large building lots on the western edge of the Snyderville Basin. About 200 have been built upon.
Promontory also includes two 18-hole golf courses, a clubhouse with a restaurant and lounges and a riding academy with an indoor arena.
If employees walk out, the operation could not continue, according to court documents.
On March 5, the Swiss bank Credit Suisse, leading a group of first-lien lenders, asked Summit County's 3rd District Court to put the resort into receivership - under control of someone who would take possession of (but not the title to) its assets. Promontory Pivotal LLC and related corporations had failed to make $8.7 million in interest payments on a $275 million loan, the action alleges.
But late last week, Promontory spokesman Richard Sonntag said an out-of-court settlement might be near; and in a statement Friday, Promontory officials said they had reached an interim accord with Credit Suisse that would allow continued funding of operations - including employee pay - until a negotiated settlement could be reached.
"That plan was to be implemented March 28," the statement said, "but was prevented from going into place by a group of Promontory's second-lien lenders, who filed a petition in federal bankruptcy court."
Representatives of Stanfield Bristol CLO, which leads the secondary lender group, could not be reached Tuesday for comment. The group loaned Promontory $75 million, according to court filings.
Citing the ongoing talks, Promontory officials said Tuesday they could not comment further on the impasse or their workers' pay.
Brendan Kawakami, a cook at Promontory, said the resort owes him more than two weeks' back pay, about $2,000.
"Things don't look too promising," he said on Tuesday, noting that the restaurant where he works, The Hearth, has stopped ordering food from its vendors.
"I'm working today, trying to figure out what's going on. But if it isn't settled soon, I will probably walk, and I think a lot of the others will, too," Kawakami said.
csmart@sltrib.com
