If you build it, they will come. That sums up Snowshoe Mountain Resort’s experience with real estate development. Last year, the resort began developing Rimfire Lodge, the first phase of a new mountaintop village being developed by Intrawest Corporation. Rimfire units sold out quickly, with only 25% units remaining; the first tenants will move in starting this summer. This weekend, the resort began taking orders for its second development project, the Highland House. Once again, buyers were lined up. In 7 hours, the resort sold thirty-eight of the 77 units, totaling $7 million in sales. In total, Snowshoe has attracted $25 million in village resort development sales over the past 15 months.

Intrawest Corporation purchased the West Virginia resort in 1995 with an ambitious plan for turning Snowshoe into a world-class, four-season resort. Over the past several years, Intrawest has invested millions of dollars into capital improvements, including the installation of two new high-speed lifts, the cutting of a new trail, and expansion of snowmaking capacity. Plans call for the addition of more trails and lifts in the coming years. On the real estate front, Intrawest is developing a new mountaintop community, which was initiated by the groundbreaking of Rimfire Lodge last year. Construction of Highland House will begin shortly, and is scheduled to finish by mid-2000. When the entire village is completed, 600 new homes and 100,000 square feet of restaurants, shops, and specialty stores will have been added to the resort.

The Highland House will be located slopeside next to the Skidder trail. This weekend’s property buyers were drawn from states such as Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia. The average selling price of a Highland House unit was $184,000.

“We are very pleased with the village’s progress to this point,” said Tom Wallington, Vice President for Resort Development at Snowshoe. “With this summer’s opening of Rimfire Lodge, buyers are seeing that Intrawest is serious about their commitment in making Snowshoe the premier four-season resort in the mid-Atlantic and southeast regions.”