Housing affordability project celebrated in South Lake Tahoe

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The name Sugar Pine Village demonstrates exactly what it took to get the affordable workforce housing project to South Lake Tahoe - it took a village.

Officials with Related California, Saint Joseph Community Land Trust, City of South Lake Tahoe, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, and the State of California came together at the 11.3-acre site of Sugar Pine Village on Monday to celebrate what will is the largest affordable development in South Lake Tahoe.

The project will also be the largest affordable housing project in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Those living in them are required to earn 30-60 percent of the Area Media Income and no more.

Sugar Pine Village is being built on surplus public land purchased by the California Tahoe Conservancy (CTC), land that could have been used for large and non-affordable housing had they not stepped in to purchase it years ago.

"Kudos to the state for hanging in there to make this happen," said Bill Witte, CEO and founder of Related California, the developer of multifamily residential and mixed-use properties in California. Witte has 17,000 housing units under his belt in the state.

The first phase of the new project will include 12 studios, 12 one-bedroom, 23 two-bedroom, and 21 three-bedroom units. The units are being built in a factory and will be brought up to the site in Spring, with leasing expected in September 2023.

“The Sugar Pine Village project is one step toward addressing the housing crisis in the City of South Lake Tahoe," said South Lake Tahoe Mayor Devin Middlebrook. "We are grateful for the joint efforts between the local and state entities, especially the Governor’s Office and the Department of Housing and Community Development, in bringing this project to fruition and we are excited to have remained on track with our projected timelines. Affordable housing continues to be a top priority for us, and we will continue to look for opportunities to add more affordable housing to our city.”

California Governor Newsom made housing a top priority and deployed a team to communities around the state to make affordable projects happen. It took a collaboration between multiple parties, and Sugar Pine Village is the first project under his executive order, and the largest planned to date. The full 248-unit project received full environmental clearances and permitting in just six months by utilizing Senate Bill 35 ministerial approvals. TRPA didn't charge any affordable housing permit fees, and the City partnered to get the project to this point.

“Sugar Pine Village demonstrates the tremendous potential of unlocking state-owned lands and converting them to housing for the local workforce and for low- and very low-income Californians,” said Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency Secretary Lourdes Castro Ramírez. “By creating a thriving mixed-use development near transit and pedestrian-friendly centers, Sugar Pine Village is helping to implement the state’s vision for using excess state sites to support vibrant, sustainable communities.”

The City of South Lake Tahoe also put up $2.4M to leverage other funding for the project and provided leadership on the project that the state and Related officials highlighted during the ceremony.

“We are proud to have made significant progress in transforming state-owned lands into affordable housing,” said State of California's Director of Housing and Community Development, Director Gustavo Velasquez. “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. The partnership and innovative thinking of this administration, DGS, developers, and stakeholders across the state will move us closer to the nearly one million affordable homes needed by 2030.”

"We have a housing affordability crisis," added Castro Ramírez. She said they need to unlock all the tools at the State level to produce more housing, which is the Governor's goal.

Velasquez has increased the size of departments under his leadership from 500 to 1,200 in the five months he's been on the job, all of them focusing on housing for Californians. He said 4,400 new units are on their way through the new programs on state lands. Velasquez said they are facilitating access to housing opportunities, the backbone of the community.

"Let's not stop at Sugar Pine Village, let's build more," said Middlebrook.