Steven Kelly not only has plans to transform Tenney Mountain into a first-class, year-round ski resort with new housing, hotels, restaurants, retail shops, conference center and other amenities at the base of the Plymouth mountain.

The latest owner of Tenney Mountain is also aiming to transform the entire central New Hampshire economy by creating a new industrial zone near the resort that one day could host life science and other tech firms employing more than 1,000 workers.

“It’s really going to benefit central New Hampshire,” Kelly, head of North Country Development LLC, said of his ambitious, long-term plans to turn the long-struggling Tenney Mountain Resort into the engine of an economic juggernaut.

“It’s about creating a business ecosystem that doesn’t exist in central New Hampshire today,” said Kelly, estimating his plans could ultimately cost $2.5 billion over the next 20 to 25 years. “Part of our plan is to try to create an industrial park and really focus on science and technology companies, and part of that is to work with Plymouth State University to possibly modify the curriculum to be more science and tech focused, to create a possible feeder system of high-paid workers into the region.”

Kelly’s ski resort and commercial ambitions for the Tenney Mountain area may sound a little far-fetched, if only because so many previous Tenney owners have come and gone over the years – leaving behind broken promises of rejuvenating the tired and under-performing ski area.

But many Plymouth residents and ski industry experts believe Kelly, owner of Timberline Construction and Timberline Communications Inc. in Canton, Massachusetts, may well be the owner who finally makes his Tenney dreams a reality.

Town Meeting OKs Zoning

In March, Plymouth residents at a Town Meeting overwhelmingly approved, 530-160, a new zoning overlay district west of Route 3A, covering approximately 2,700 acres of largely agriculture-designated land.

Called the Tenney Mountain Overlay District, the newly zoned area permits a number of additional commercial and recreational uses. Property owners can also seek conditional-use permits for new so-called “planned unit development” (PUD) areas that give developers even more flexibility in what’s built in the zones.

Joseph Perez, director of planning and economic development in Plymouth, said the lopsided Town Meeting vote in favor of the new overlay district shows residents are eager for major changes at Tenney Mountain.

“There’s a lot of support for something finally happening in this part of town,” he said. “The ski mountain area is clearly viewed as an important asset for the town.”

And Kelly, who currently owns 1,200 acres within the overlay district, said transforming Tenney Mountain Resort, as the ski area has long been known, over the next 10 years is key to all his longer-term plans.

Competing with Big-Name Resorts

Since buying the resort in 2022, Kelly, whose construction management firm has had an office in New Hampshire since 2008, has already made some changes at Tenney, including upgrading the resort’s long-time lodge to include a new bar, rebuilding ski-lift towers, and installing new snow-making equipment, among other improvements.

Ultimately, Kelly, who has long vacationed in New Hampshire and owns a getaway home in Meredith, said he sees expanding the “ski-able” area at Tenney from 130 acres to 630 acres, with new lifts replacing today’s antiquated two lifts.

Those and other improvements should better position Tenney to compete against other resorts in New Hampshire, such as Loon Mountain Ski Resort and Waterville Valley Resort, Kelly has said.

But more is in store at Tenney.

“We have to bring the ski mountain back to relevance, yes,” said Kelly. “You bring the ski mountain back, number one, but it can’t just be skiing. We’re making it a four-season resort in order to be sustainable long-term.”

To achieve that year-round goal, Kelly envisions introducing non-winter recreational offerings such as mountain biking, zip lines, camping/glamping grounds, and new snow-making retention ponds that can be used in summers for swimming, kayaking and other recreational activities.

There might even be some “waterpark-like rides” one day at Tenney, he said.

In the first 10-year phase of the overall project, Kelly also plans to transform the base of the mountain into a village-like center with new housing, restaurants, retail shops, a boutique hotel and an entirely new ski lodge.

How much housing? Perhaps 500 units of workforce, market-rate and luxury housing within the first 10 years, he said. The residential component will include apartments, condos and some single-family homes.

Eventually, the entire project over the next few decades could include as many as 2,500 housing units.

“You can’t build [the housing] all at once,” Kelly said. “You can’t build 20 year’s worth of inventory and expect it to all be absorbed at once. So, you have to build that in phases — and that will phase out over the 20 years or so.”

Experts: Diversify to Survive

Ski-industry experts at the University of New Hampshire’s Recreation Management and Policy Center say Kelly’s planned ski-resort changes follow a trend across the country of winter resorts transforming themselves into four-season destination places.

“Ski resorts are getting away from the outdated model of mountains simply being used for skiing and with only seasonal, part-time vacation homes,” said Jada Lindblom, associate extension professor at the UNH center.

“Ski resorts need to diversify if they’re going to survive,” she said. “So ski resorts have gotten imaginative over the years. If you can create villages where people actually live and work year-round, there can be real economic benefits to the surrounding community.”

Sean McLaughlin, a professor at UNH’s Recreation  Management and Policy Center, agreed that Kelly appears to be on the right track in terms of transforming Tenney Mountain into a year-round “live, work, plan” operation.

“He sort of has a blank slate to work with,” McLaughlin said. “When done right, there’s a pretty good track record of this type of year-round model working.”

He noted that a wide number of ski resorts — from the famous Vail Ski Resort in Colorado to Cranmore Mountain Resort in North Conway – have successfully morphed into year-round recreational centers.

“Tenney has been a struggling resort for a long time, so people are excited to hear about possible changes there. I’m optimistic it can economically work out.”

Seeking Investors for First Phase

As for the envisioned industrial zone, small convention center and other additions to the Tenney area, Kelly said those features will be included in later phases.

But how are all the short-term and long-term projects going to get funded? Kelly said much of the money will ultimately come from other investors, not just his own funds.

“We’re right now talking to a lot of different [potential investors] who are interested at a variety of levels,” said Kelly. “We’ve had a lot of interest since we got the overlay approval at the Town Meeting.”

Kelly said he’s confident all the plans, short-term and long-term, will work out in the end.

“I’m a passionate human being,” he said.

“What we’re really doing up here is we’re going to leave the world a better place, right? We’re creating a new economic ecosystem in central New Hampshire.”