Industry News
The Master Plan by Homewood Mountain Resort, California, has been a long time in the making. In 2011, the original Master Plan was fully approved, and 11 years later in 2022, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) approved another revision of Homewood’s Master Plan. In 2024, Homewood has finally revealed its eight-year Master Plan that will result in a major facelift for the resort.
- Related: Homewood Mountain, CA, Moves Away from Member-Only Model and Plans Major Upgrades – SnowBrains
The time hasn’t passed without scrutiny; the Keep Homewood Public (KHP) organization fought against the resort’s plan to become semi-private. In 2022, Homewood decided to become semi-private due to the decline in ticket sales over the previous 10 seasons. SAM Magazine reported this statement from Art Chapman, president of JMA Ventures, which purchased the resort in 2006:
“If we are going to keep the ski area open, we can’t do it as a public ski area that requires a lot of employees and having to rely on fewer skiers. We are not in the least bit interested in trying to promote Homewood as a competitor to Squaw [Palisades Tahoe] or Northstar.”
Discovery Land Co. is a real estate developer who partnered with JMA, the owners of Homewood Mountain Resort. Discovery Land Co. manages many private clubs, including Yellowstone Club in Montana, where member initiation fees are at least $300,000. The fear for a ski area like Homewood to follow in the footsteps of the Yellowstone Club caused many locals to speak out against the privatization of the ski area. Ultimately, Harry Hirsch, the resort’s vice president and general manager, announced that the ski area would remain open to the public and serve the local community.
This April, Homewood has been releasing details about the Master Plan and the timeline. Homewood Mountain Resort posted on its website the major components of the plan. The project’s major components are as follows:
- Installation of an eight-passenger gondola to replace the Madden Chair
- Replacement of the Ellis Chair
- Improve snowmaking capabilities & mountain maintenance
- Add up to 225 residences
- Add a hotel with up to 75 hotel/condo units
- Add 13 on-site workforce housing units
- Create a new base mountain facility with food and beverage offerings, lockers, restrooms, a ski school, and a rental shop as well as first aid and mountain administration
- A new parking garage offering up to 270 day-use parking spaces
- A new mid-mountain lodge with a gondola terminal, which will include a “learn-to-ski” lift, food and beverage offerings, a community pool, and sundries
The Tahoe Daily Tribune noted that for the development to kick off this summer, Homewood must:
- Submit the minor plan revision to the TRPA
- Work to get minor plan revision, gondola permit, and timber harvest permits approved this summer
The 2011 Master Plan was completed at a conceptual level almost 13 years ago. Due to the lengthy pause, many code and safety requirements needed to be updated. Such changes were minor revisions, the most notable change was to the gondola’s path which slightly relocated the terminal down the mountain to provide easier access to skiers. Homewood reassured in its Master Plan update that it will remain completely public and open to all.
