Townhomes in Truckee for Tahoe-region workforce will cap at $615k. Here’s how to qualify

Hopkins Village, a workforce housing development underway in Truckee, has a new price tag for potential buyers.

The Placer County Board of Supervisors adopted an amendment in their meeting Tuesday that would cap the price for an individual buyer at $615,000, well under market value for the Tahoe region.

The housing development is located in Martis Valley, northwest of Lake Tahoe. Each of the 50 townhomes has three bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms and a garage. Only local workers are permitted to buy the homes provided their income is less than 180% of the median income for the area.

A family of four would need to make less than $183,960 per year to qualify, the county said.

Ten of the townhomes have already been sold, according to the amendment.

Of the remaining 40, half of them are available to be purchased by employers for their employees at an unrestricted price, meeting documents said.

While maps for Hopkins Village were originally approved by Placer County supervisors in 2007, the project didn’t break ground until 2021.

Hopkins Village, one of two workforce housing projects in the region, comes on the heels of an intensifying housing crisis in the Tahoe Basin, a crisis that has displaced a significant portion of the local workforce. In 2021, the region saw an unprecedented exodus of low- and middle-income workers and renters, displaced by landlords selling their properties in a booming real estate market.

Housing for Tahoe’s workforce has been a hot-button issue for local employers who struggle to fill their ranks, and employees, who often have to commute upwards of an hour because of the lack of affordable housing closer to their places of work.

Hopkins Village is one of very few housing developments within the city of Truckee, making it one of the few opportunities for local workers to acquire permanent, affordable housing.

Those interested in buying a townhome in the development must apply and provide financial information to the county. Homes will be sold as completed on a first-come, first-served basis to those who qualify.