SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) — The parent company of Heavenly Ski Resort is selling its 85 percent stake in the planned Grand Summit Hotel to Marriott Vacation Club International.
Marriott executives said on Friday they will proceed with construction of the 192-unit quarter share hotel at the base of Heavenly's new gondola, both considered cornerstones of ambitious redevelopment plans for South Lake Tahoe.
"We look forward to seeing through the vision that American Skiing Co. had created for this exceptional resort," Marriott Vacation Club President Steve Weisz said. The vacation club is a subsidiary of Marriott International Inc.
American Skiing also owns The Canyons resort in Park City.
The $23 million gondola, which opened in December, and the Grand Summit Hotel are key components of the $250 million Park Avenue Project — a cluster of upscale hotels, retail shops, theaters and a pedestrian plaza that will replace a strip of tacky souvenir shops and run-down motels just west of the California-Nevada border.
Marriott is building a second major hotel for the Park Avenue Project, the 409-unit Lake Tahoe Inn, near the Grand Summit site.
Many have questioned American Skiing Co.'s ability to deliver on the hotel project. The highly leveraged company has struggled since it went public in November 1997 and lost $10.4 million in its most recent quarter despite record revenues and ski visits at most of its resorts.