The announced development is a revised version of its initialplans on property abutting Peaks 7 and 8 and the Watson parking lotin the historical town of Breckenridge, located 60 miles west ofDenver. Publicly traded Vail Resorts has abandoned a $500,000 planto develop 33 home sites in an environmentally sensitive area knownas Cucumber Gulch, preserving the land as wetlands and a wildlifehabitat. Still, the plan for Breckenridge - which for the past twoski seasons has been the nation's most popular resort, bookingnearly $1.5 million skier visits - is the biggest corporateinitiative by VRDC. In the past three years, VRDC has pumped $100million into improvements for Breckenridge, a former miningtown.

The Peak 8 plan calls for developing 48 of the 258 acres it ownswith a mix of residential and commercial units and replacing allthe current ski area operations and administration buildings, someof which were constructed shortly after the mountain opened in1961. About 430 condominiums will be built, averaging less than 900sf each and 12 single-family homes. A key component will be a''grand scale'' lodge with 148 condominium hotel units, fitnesscenter with swimming pool, courts, year-round ice-skating rink and12,000-sf conference center.The Peak 7 plans will resemble a''smaller, more intimate village,'' composed of two condominiumbuildings with skier services on the plaza level and a series ofsmall mountain lodges, each with six to 10 condominiums.

A total of 110,000 sf will be built on the peaks, replacing46,000 sf of existing buildings. In addition, 35,000 sf is beingdedicated to new skier services and restaurant space, with 26,000sf being allocated for retail space. Key to the plan is a gondolaat the Watson parking lot to develop the first link with the townto the ski mountain.