A developer is selling lots in the first phase of a new, 80-acre residential project at Schweitzer Mountain Resort, near Sandpoint.


Eleven of the 18 lots included in that phase of the planned development, to be called the Spires at Schweitzer, already have been sold or are spoken for, says Lou Dillon, of Lakeshore Mountain Properties, which has offices at the ski resort and in nearby Hope, Idaho, and is marketing the project. One house is under construction there and several others could get under way in the spring, she says.


The first phase of the Spires encompasses seven acres of the 80-acre site, which is located on the south ridge of Schweitzers main ski bowl. All lots in the first phase have views of Lake Pend Oreille, Dillon says. Homes that will be built there will cost at least $500,000, and likely much more, she adds. The home thats currently under construction, for example, is being built speculatively by an investor, and will be priced at about $1.4 million.


Lot prices range from $175,000 to $335,000, but that money buys only enough land to contain the footprint of the home, Dillon says. All other property will be held in common by homeowners, and will include ski runs enabling residents to ski to their homes from Schweitzers south ridge, as well as trails that can be used for cross-country skiing in the winter and biking in the summer.


Plans call for the eventual construction of a private chairlift to serve the homes that will be built in the Spires, providing true ski-in, ski-out capabilities to every home in the development, Dillon says. Currently, the only ski-out access some residents in the first phase will have is along a road, she says.


Another possibility in the future is that the New York state-based developer of the project, Clay Hutchison, will build a hotel near the top of the mountain, Dillon says. Because that property is steep, however, access to the hotel might be from a parking lot below the project, with a tram taking guests to the facility.


Phase two of the project should get under way next year, with about 10 lots for sale, Dillon says. It hasnt been decided how many homes ultimately could be built at the Spires, she says.


Hutchison, of Old Chatham, New York, whose Sandpoint-based development company is called TimberStone Design/Build LLC, also developed the Glades and Big Timber Lodge residential projects at Schweitzer.