The owner of Whitetail Club and Resort in McCall is seeking offers from buyers for the lakeside lodge on Payette Lake, 18-hole golf course and related amenities.

Manchester Grand Resorts of San Diego has hired the real estate brokerage firm of Jones Lang Lasalle of Chicago to test the market for potential buyers, Whitetail President John Sabala said.

No deadline has been set for receiving offers, and there is no set price for the resort, Sabala said.

"We have been approached numerous s times with offers to purchase the resort and development during the last three years but had never initiated a sale," Sabala said.

"It was not until March that we accepted an offer which did not materialize," he said. "This acceptance generated a great deal of further interest and as such we have elected to entertain offers nationally."

If a successful buyer is found, the new owner would acquire the 77suite lodge on Payette Lake, which includes 13,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space and a 36 slip marina.

Also part of the deal would be 1,400 acres of surrounding land that includes the 18-hole Whitetail Golf Course and a residential development currently approved for 253 lots in Valley County and 70 to 80 lots in Adams County. Of that total, more than 70 lots have been sold and 17 homes have been built or are under construction.

The resort also features a Fish and Swim Club Members Lodge complete with a stocked fishing pond, saltwater pool, oversized hot tub, full kitchen and furnishings with flat screen TVs, pool table and locker rooms. Soon to open adjacent to the Fish and Swim Club is an enclosed tennis and fitness center.

Sabala said the current employees of the lodge should not be worried if a new owner comes in.

"If a sale were to materialize, the purchase price would demand a sizeable buyer, likely with experience, who appreciates dedicated employees and understands the challenge of replacing good people, particularly in a small market," he said.

Manchester Grand Resorts is a subsidiary of Manchester Financial Group, which specializes in the development and management of high-end hotels, resort and resort-residential
properties.

The company, led by "Papa Doug" Manchester, purchased what was then called Shore Lodge in 1991 for $4.2 million.

The resort closed for 2-1/2 years starting in the fall of 1999 for a complete renovation that reduced the number of rooms from 116 to 77 and added a two level event pavilion. Whitetail Golf Course opened at the same time the hotel reopened in the spring of 2002.

Manchester Financial Group developed Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego and The San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina on the city's waterfront and owns and operates The Grand Del Mar, and The Villas at The Grand Del Mar, a luxury golf resort and private resort-residence community in San Diego.

Manchester has developed more than $2 billion in assets in 11 states and employs 2,000 people nationally, according to the company's Web site.