Grant to bring sustainable workforce housing to Tahoe
The city of South Lake Tahoe, in partnership with Related California and Saint Joseph Community Land Trust, announced last week that the Sugar Pine Village project has been awarded $17,359,470 by the California Strategic Growth Council’s Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities program.
The AHSC program funds affordable housing development and capital transit improvement projects that reduce greenhouse gases. The grant is a critical piece of a complex funding structure that will provide essential financing to develop the 248-unit multiphase workforce affordable housing project in South Lake Tahoe.
Sugar Pine Village, which will be affordable to a family of four earning between $27,200 and $72,500 was selected by the highly competitive program under the rural innovation project areas category for its expansion and improvement of local bike and pedestrian trails, as well as its proximity to one of the region’s main transit hubs.
The award includes funding for local bike and pedestrian improvements that will allow residents to use active forms of transportation. Coupled with funding for a solar power system at the city’s transit-related facilities, the award represents real progress towards the city’s sustainability goals.
“This award exemplifies the team effort associated with a project this size. The city is honored to work with such a dedicated team of state, regional, private and nonprofit partners to help bring this project to fruition,” said South Lake Tahoe Mayor Devin Middlebrook.
“Recent funding awards and a focused effort of the entire team and City Council has made this a viable project.”
The grant application included an approximate $995,000 local contribution approved by the City Council to increase the competitiveness of the project.
The Sugar Pine Village project will be the largest multi-family development constructed in the city and is the result of Gov. 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 local nonprofit housing developer Saint Joseph Community Land Trust were selected by the state to develop the South Lake Tahoe site for affordable workforce housing, combating the acute affordable housing supply shortage in the Tahoe Basin.
“We are appreciative of Gov. Newsom and the Strategic Growth Council for their prioritization of the development of sustainable and affordable housing in California,” said CEO of Related California’s NorCal Affordable and Northwest Divisions Ann Silverberg.
“We are thrilled to deliver hundreds of units of affordable workforce housing to the South Lake Tahoe community, particularly amid rapidly escalating home prices in the region — and we thank our partners the city of South Lake Tahoe and Saint Joseph Community Land Trust for making this possible.”
The mixed-use, affordable housing development is to be built on two parcels of California Tahoe Conservancy surplus land in the Tahoe Valley area. The project will deliver much-needed affordable, workforce housing to residents earning 30-60% of the area’s median income.
“Our goal is to provide not only affordable workforce housing near work and daily activities but also to improve ease of transportation for the community’s daily activities,” said Executive Director of Saint Joseph Community Land Trust Jean Diaz.