An affordable housing project in Placer County’s portion of Lake Tahoe cleared a final hurdle on Wednesday when the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee awarded $2,292,167 per year for ten years ($22,921,670 total) in low income housing tax credits to the project. This last piece of a complex funding plan will complete the financing for the Kings Beach Scattered Sites Housing Project.
The Scattered Sites Project will be the first to be built in the Placer County portion of Lake Tahoe, and is also the first housing development project in the Lake Tahoe area from the Placer County Redevelopment Agency. The project, which has been more than three years in the approval process, is occurring through a development agreement between Kings Beach Housing Associates, LP, through their managing partner Domus Development, LLC, and the Redevelopment Agency.
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| A rendering of the Chipmunk Street housing structure. |
The $34 million project will construct 77 units on five sites in Kings Beach. The project has been a main focus of the Redevelopment Agency, which has spent about $4.65 million acquiring the five properties for the project. In addition, RDA has provided an additional $3.3 million in project funding and obtained two competitive state grants totaling $5.4 million for the project.
“We have been working diligently to actually begin building and improve the lives of Kings Beach residents for some time,” said Supervisor Jennifer Montgomery, whose Fifth District encompasses Placer County’s portion of Lake Tahoe. “It is truly exciting to see revitalization happening on the North Shore of the Lake. This housing project is an important and integral part of a larger plan to improve the economic, scenic and quality of life aspects of this area.”
The scattered sites will be:
The project will have significant benefits to the overall community and environment. Placer County will upgrade infrastructure by installing new sidewalks, curbs, and water and sewage lines. Additionally, the buildings will have environmental design features and be built to LEED certification standards. At the Chipmunk site, the building construction will include a drainage basin that will capture and filter out an estimated seven tons of sediment a year that now enters the lake.
In all, 75 of the units will be deed restricted for low-income residents who earn between 30 percent and 60 percent of the area median income. The remaining two units will be for on-site managers.
With a completed environmental review process, approval of all necessary agencies and regulatory entities, and a completed financing plan, the project is set to begin construction. The project is expected to break ground this summer.
In addition to the Domus Project, Redevelopment has been intricately involved in several Kings Beach projects. They include:
· The Kings Beach Commercial Core Improvement Project, a revitalization of a 1.1-mile section of State Route 28 through Kings Beach;
- Construction of a gateway sign at the east end of Kings Beach;
- Acquisition and remediation of two abandoned gas stations at the eastern end of the area;
- Construction of two off-street parking lots;
- Working with the Tahoe City Public Utility District on the Tahoe Vista Recreation Area Park improvement project; and
- Providing pre-development funding for Community Enhancement Projects.