American Skiing Co. (ASC) and Marriott Vacation Club
Int'l (MVCI) will develop luxury vacation ownership
properties at five alpine resorts owned by ASC. As part of
the deal, MVCI, a subsidiary of Marriott Int'l, has
purchased land at resorts, and ASC will grant MVCI exclusive
vacation time-share development and marketing rights at each
of its nine resorts. The five initial sites -- Killington,
VT, Sunday River, ME, Steamboat, CO, Heavenly, CA, and the
Canyons in UT -- will each consist of 200 luxury villas
offering weekly time-shares. Additional land purchases at
ASC's four other resorts are planned in the future (ASC).
In Portland, Dean Lunt reported that construction on ME's
Sunday River complex "could start as early as the spring of
1999," with the units possibly ready for the '99-2000 ski
season. Lunt added that the deal "offers several benefits"
to ASC, including more beds at its mountains, a partnership
with a "highly respected resort company" and "a new type of
real estate ownership for skiers" (PRESS HERALD, 7/28).
ESTATE TRUST: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Bob Ortega
writes, "Unable to lure more skiers to the slopes in the
winter, and hoping to turn seasonal businesses into year-
round operations," ski resorts are "focusing on their
acreage to boost revenue." In Aspen, there is "almost no
underdeveloped land left, making available resort property a
special prize." Aspen Skiing, through a recent lottery,
sold 31 single-family home sites, priced at $1.1M -$2.6M, at
the base of its Aspen Highlands ski area (WSJ, 7/29).
