Big affordable housing project to be built in Tahoe. Work on the first phase is starting
Work is beginning on the first phase of a major affordable housing community in South Lake Tahoe, an area with a severe shortage of workforce and low-income housing.
Sugar Pine Village will eventually have 248 income-restricted units of affordable housing on two parcels at Lake Tahoe Boulevard and Tata Lane, a few blocks west of the busy Lake Tahoe Boulevard and Emerald Bay Road intersection. The development is being constructed on vacant state-owned land that was identified as part of a statewide affordable housing program through an executive order Gov. Gavin Newsom signed in 2019.
Infrastructure work and other site preparation has begun on the first phase, consisting of 68 housing units. Those units will be available to households making between 30% and 60% of the area median income; the median household income in the South Lake Tahoe region is roughly $60,000, according to census data.
Construction on the building is expected to start once the weather allows for it in spring 2023.
South Lake Tahoe Mayor Devin Middlebrook said in a written statement that the project “is one step toward addressing the housing crisis” in the city.
“Communities like Sugar Pine Village in Lake Tahoe will support working families and individuals to live closer to where they work, go to school, and amenities — reducing transportation costs and climate impacts,” said Gustavo Velasquez, director of the state Department of Housing and Community Development.
Median home prices in the Lake Tahoe region are among the highest in Northern California, with the typical home value in some ZIP codes near or above $1 million. Many homes in the region are vacation properties, exasperating the housing crunch.
That’s forced many service workers — those who work in tourism, retail and in restaurants — to commute to the region from Reno or Placerville.
Future phases of Sugar Pine Village will be restricted to those earning no more than 80% of the area median income.