Lake Tahoe's Homewood Mountain Resort is set to break ground this spring on a scaled-down expansion that will cost $500 million. Plans for a 5-star hotel, condos, and 15,000 square feet of retail space stalled after Friends of the West Shore and the Tahoe Area Sierra Club filed a 2012 lawsuit. A settlement has just been reached, albeit with 13 fewer residential units. [First Tracks]