Sugar Pine Village project in South Lake Tahoe awarded $19.6M; work could start this summer

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The Sugar Pine Village affordable housing project in South Lake Tahoe received another round of grant funds, this time in the amount of $19.6 million. The City of South Lake Tahoe, in partnership with Related California and Saint Joseph Community Land Trust, made the announcement Friday.

Funds are coming from the California Department of Housing and Community Development’s Multifamily Housing Program (MHP). The MHP, authorized by the Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2018 (Proposition 1), assists with new construction, rehabilitation, and preservation of permanent and transitional rental housing for lower-income households.

The City expects the project to break ground in 2022.

The project has received a total of six funding awards to date, four of which were grants and two being tax credit awards. Three of the grant awards are being used for Phase 1A, with the largest, a $17,359,470 grant from the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) Program, allocated for Phase 2A. That grant includes $4 million for city improvements.

The City of South Lake Tahoe is in the process of submitting another HOME application for $6,375,000 for Phase 1B from the California Department of
Housing and Community Development.

This new grant funding is a critical milestone in the 248-unit multi-phase workforce affordable housing development’s complex financing structure.

“With this latest funding announcement, it is likely we will be able to break ground on this innovative project as early as this year," said South Lake Tahoe Mayor Devin Middlebrook. "We are thrilled that Sugar Pine Village has been awarded with MHP funding by the California Department of Housing and Community Development,” said Ann Silverberg, CEO of Related California’s NorCal Affordable and Northwest Divisions. “Thank you to HCD for providing vital funding to assist in the delivery of urgently-needed multifamily housing in the South Lake Tahoe community – and to the City of South Lake Tahoe and Saint Joseph Community Land Trust for your partnership.”

The mixed-use, affordable housing development is to be built on two parcels of California Tahoe Conservancy surplus land in the Tahoe Valley area at Lake Tahoe Blvd. and Tata Lane. Sugar Pine Village will deliver much-needed affordable, workforce housing to residents earning 30-60 percent of the Area Media Income (AMI), and is the largest multi-family housing project in South Lake Tahoe’s pipeline.

The income requirements will be at the time of renting, but at this time those earning approximately $26,100 - $52,200 annually would qualify.

"The recent South Shore Housing Needs and Opportunities Study documented the severe housing shortage and resulting adverse impacts on the quality of life for residents and employers of the Tahoe Basin,” said Jean Diaz, executive director of Saint Joseph Community Land Trust. "The diligent work that has gone into the public-private partnership has allowed an otherwise slow process in the government sector move quickly in the face of a crisis, and is something I hope other communities can look to as a best practice for mitigating the housing crisis not just here in Tahoe, but throughout the state.”

Saint Joseph Community Land Trust is in South Lake Tahoe and the nonprofit developer partner for the Sugar Pine Village project. The 248 units will be studios, 1, 2, and 3 bedroom workforce apartments, and the village will include childcare and community services.

Sugar Pine Village is a result of Governor Gavin Newsom’s Executive Order N-06-19 directing the California Department of General Services, California Tahoe Conservancy, and the California Department of Housing and Community Development to identify and aggressively pursue sustainable, innovative, cost-effective housing projects on state-owned excess sites.

Related California and Saint Joseph Community Land Trust were selected by the State to develop the South Lake Tahoe site for affordable workforce housing, combatting the acute affordable housing supply shortage in the Tahoe Basin.

“We are thrilled that Sugar Pine Village has been awarded with MHP funding by the California Department of Housing and Community Development,” said Ann Silverberg, CEO of Related California’s NorCal Affordable and Northwest Divisions. “Thank you to HCD for providing vital funding to assist in the delivery of urgently-needed multifamily housing in the South Lake Tahoe community – and to the City of South Lake Tahoe and Saint Joseph Community Land Trust for your partnership.”

Sugar Pine Village is planned to be a residential, mixed-use affordable community that compliments the existing neighborhood while also preserving native species and sensitive land. The project is being designed to provide residents with new high-quality, sustainable housing designed to support active transportation, encouraging biking, walking, access to transit, and connection with nearby trails for the local workforce and their families.

To follow the project, and sign up for updates, visit https://sugarpinevillageslt.com/.