Real Estate: Northstar Rising

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By Michael Penwarden
Photos by Justin Bailie

This winter, Northstar-at-Tahoe follows in the footsteps of Squaw Valley, Heavenly Valley and Kirkwood by opening the first phase of its planned three-phase village.
    The Village at Northstar was developed jointly by long-time resort operator Booth Creek Ski Holdings (which also operates South Lake Tahoe’s Sierra-at-Tahoe resort) and Colorado-based real estate developer East-West Partners.
    This ski-boot friendly, slopeside pedestrian fantasyland features unique shops, comfy-to-classy restaurants, luxurious condominiums and even a free ice rink.  All of it is nestled conveniently at the base of the mountain and designed to keep skiers and non-skiers alike — not to mention their après ski dollars —  as captive as gamblers inside a casino.
    Purists may feel this kind of “Disneyfication” of skiing means the era when the sport was about spending a full day testing oneself on the slopes is slipping away.  In his book “Downhill Slide: Why the Corporate Ski Industry is Bad for Skiing, Ski Towns and the Environment,” author Hal Clifford laments, “(Ski resorts) are losing what it was that made them special in the first place, and so becoming more like the rest of America. The question for the skiers and snowboarders who visit and love these places is whether this is an inevitable ordering of the world.”
    Others worry less about the existential questions facing mountain communities and instead focus on the idea that newer high-speed quad and six-pack lifts allow visitors to pack in as many runs before lunch as they used to be able to fit into a full day. No matter where you stand, the interests of the village developers are clear:  Compelling activities in the base area keep skiers and boarders, along with their non-schussing friends and family members, engaged and spending money when they’d otherwise call it a day and head down the mountain.
    “We couldn’t be more pleased with the variety and types of shops and restaurants in the Village,” says Booth Creek VP of Marketing Julie Maurer.  “We’ve put a lot of care into making it a special, very social experience.
“For example,” Maurer continues, “we have studios where you can create your own jewelry or learn to knit, and inside the True North clothing store we have Grapes and Grounds, where in the morning we serve special pressed coffee and in the evening we feature different California wines and free tastings.”
    If shopping isn’t your bag, social interaction is encouraged at cabaña bars and fire pits scattered strategically throughout the area, where you can purchase and roast your own gourmet Northstar s’mores. There’s also bungee jumping, a climbing wall and a video arcade.
    On-mountain improvements at $10.5 million are also set to handle the anticipated increase in visitors the village will bring: “We have two new lifts this year, including the Tahoe Zepher Express,” says Northstar’s Communications Supervisor Jessica VanPernis. “We’ve also added 60 acres of new intermediate terrain, and we’ve increased our snowmaking system to cover more than 50 percent of our trails.” 
    VanPernis adds, “We moved the Cross Country Center to a mid-mountain location in order to make room for the Ritz-Carlton, which will be the first five-star luxury hotel in Lake Tahoe when it opens in 2009.”
In the end, Northstar’s developers aren’t taking much of a gamble: For every X-Game outcast dying to shred fresh powder from first chair to last run, there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of mortals who’d just like to enjoy a relaxing alpine escape. 

Read the rest of Prosper's special real estate package, including:

After the Boom, The Green Gap, Roseville Renewables and Ski In, Buy In 

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