SAM Magazine-Homewood, Calif., June 14, 2006-JMA Ventures, the company that built Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco, has purchased Homewood Mountain Resort. The resort occupies 1,260 acres on Tahoe's West Shore. The move comes after 4th District Congressman John Doolittle, R-Roseville, blocked a possible sale of the property to the U.S. Forest Service earlier this year, saying he did not know enough about future plans for the area. Area management has described the sale as crucial to the resort's viability.

JMA president Art Chapman, a longtime Truckee resident and Homewood skier, said the company hopes to develop retail and lodging at the base of the mountain and upgrade the ski lifts, but at the same time keep the mountain's uncrowded, family-owned character. The Yurosek family, former owners of the mountain, remain as minority partners. The Yuroseks bought the resort in 1998.

Chapman is still hoping for a deal with the Forest Service to preserve the property, and said he believes that Rep. Doolittle will support the plan once he is fully briefed on the project. According to Chapman, the resort is seeking $22 million from the Santini-Burton Act, which reaps money from surplus federal land sales around Las Vegas and uses it to buy environmentally-sensitive properties in the Lake Tahoe Basin. \