A 550-acre expansion of Sugarloaf Mountain has received a key approval from Maine's Department of Environmental Protection.
The $104 million project calls for a new high-speed ski lift, trails and parking areas.
The expansion is part of a 10-year effort to add new beginner and intermediate-level ski trails, accommodate more visitors and transform the mountain into a four-season resort, said Ethan Austin, a Sugarloaf spokesman.
"It's going to add 12 new trails and cover 120 acres," he said. "It's so big that it will actually increase the skiable area of the resort by 10%."
The goal of the project is to build the next generation of families who will consistently ski at the mountain, Austin added. The plans also call for more than 150 new units of single-family homes, condos and duplexes. Sugarloaf envisions these units being sold to families and visitors, not for workforce housing.
"The real estate market here, like in most resort areas, is very competitive with limited inventory, and there's a lot of demand," Austin said. "So adding this new housing inventory into the market is really going to change things."
The project would be financed through Sugarloaf's parent company, Boyne Resorts, and through the sale of planned home lots.
The expansion still needs approval from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and state regulators before construction can begin, though Austin said he's hopeful tree clearing can begin later this winter.
