The experience of "being at the heart of everything," Pam Pace says, convinced the Liberty Lake couple to purchase the two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo, providing the family a destination to ski, mountain bike and hike year-round.

"It’s that whole time spent together," says Pam Pace, who has a 12-year-old daughter and 15-year-old son with her husband. "Family time was the biggest incentive for us, [and] the recreation part overall.:

Schweitzer Mountain Resort, near Sandpoint, is banking on more families like the Paces, who want a second-home getaway with the great outdoors as a backdrop and recreational opportunities just past the doorstep.

Bolstered by strong market prices and the addition of two, new high-speed chairlifts this season, the ski resort is planning $50 million in development and infrastructure improvements to serve a flurry of new residences.

During the next few years, Schweitzer is set to more than quadruple its number of living units, with plans to add an estimated 4,000 condos, multiplexes and single-family homes to its 7,000-acre mountain resort, which currently has fewer than 1,000 living units.

The resort also plans to build up its village center, adding commercial and retail space in addition to condominiums, says Tom Fortune, vice president and broker for Schweitzer Land & Timber Co., the brokerage arm of Schweitzer Mountain Real Estate LLC.

 As expansion plans come to fruition, the resort is getting more attention, especially as a less-expensive alternative to established, high-end resorts. Schweitzer was featured this fall in Skiing Magazine, where it ranked 21st among the top 25 resorts in North America.

"I think it's the next up-and-coming resort. Schweitzer is a sleeper," says Tom Chasse, president and CEO of Schweitzer Mountain Resort. "The other big resorts are built out; they don't have a lot of ski-in and ski-out. We're just starting to tap into that now. We have a lot of room to expand on the residential side."

Schweitzer owners, who purchased the property in 2005 as Schweitzer LLC, are hoping to awaken that sleeping giant by raising the profile of the resort regionally and nationally. Located just 90 minutes from the Spokane International Airport, Schweitzer has been largely undiscovered by the destination skier. Chasse says he hopes to change that.

"We're reaching across the nation," he says.

In the Inland Northwest, a handful of ski resorts are competing for roughly 4,000 skiers, Chasse says.

"We have the lion's share of that, but I don't think that's a growth market, so we have to reach out of the core market and bring in destination skiers," he adds. "Along with that growth of the ski resort, there will be higher demand for residential property here at Schweitzer."

The development, which offers ski-in and ski-out, is located up the mountain from the Selkirk Lodge hotel and next to the base of the resort’s new high-speed quad chair, Basin Express, which replaced Chair One.

In the first phase of Trappers Creek, Schweitzer began marketing 35 lots last summer for single family, duplex and triplex construction, for a total density of 65, Fortune says. The first phase will include 13 acres, and lots will vary in size, up to one-quarter of an acre. Lot prices range from $400,000 to $900,000, depending on the density, Fortune says. He expects homes and town homes in Trappers Creek to begin at $1 million. Buyers will select their own builders, but home design must follow the master plan guidelines, Fortune says.

Infrastructure, utilities and a bridge to the development were completed this fall. The second Trappers Creek phase, which will include 92 lots, is in the planning stage, Fortune says. 

The next likely project is the Greyhawk neighborhood, which will feature 41 lots, ranging up to 4 acres, for single-family dwellings. The lots, likely starting at $1 million apiece, probably will go on the market in 2008, Fortune says.

The other focus for Schweitzer real estate division is continuing to build out the pedestrian village core with condominium and commercial and retail space, Fortune says. The mountain is planning to sell lots or to join forces with a developer on the village projects, which may begin in the coming year, Fortune says. The project, which will add 400 units, will be phased in over several years.

The condo buildings will rise from the land now used for the upper skier parking lot, and day-use parking will be connected from down the mountain by a chairlift. The company envisions a village center that will appeal to pedestrians and visitors, including gathering spots with fire pits and a skating rink.

The resort also is investing in its main attraction: the skiing. For the start of this ski season, Schweitzer demolished Chair One to make way for two new lifts, increasing the total uphill capacity and providing easier access to beginner and intermediate terrain. The $10 million investment to install a high-speed quad chairlift and mid-mountain triple-chair increases the ski lift capacity by 28 percent, according to Schweitzer.

"We honestly didn't buy this as much as an investment as a lifestyle," says Pimentel, 49, chief financial officer for Liberty Lake-based SprayCool, Inc.

"We chose the White Pines over alternatives because of convenience and the views."

Pimentel fits the mold for the typical buyer at Schweitzer. Shawn Taylor, a real estate agent with Century 21 in Sandpoint, says he has gotten inquiries from as far away as Louisiana, New York and Florida. The majority, though, are from Northwest residents.

And although most are in the baby boomer generation, the demographic of buyers is fairly eclectic, Fortune says. The number of full-time residents at the mountain also is growing, he says.

Taylor says sales are healthy at Schweitzer, especially in the last six months.

The owners' commitment to the resort and the quality of skiing helps drive real estate investment, he says.