The Struggle is Real! Tahoe & Truckee Workforce Housing at an All-Time Low
“Workforce Housing” has become an increasingly scarce commodity in the Tahoe/Truckee area in the last several years. Although always popular, the area has seen an extreme rise in popularity within the last decade. The Great Recession brought home-prices to crazy lows which did enable Tahoe/Truckee locals to get in to the housing market for the first time, even with incredibly tight loan restrictions in the times shortly after the recession. It also allowed an increasing number of second home owners to get into the market as well. With AirBNB and VRBO as a norm in the short-term rental world now it has become that much easier for second home owners to vacation-rent their homes, which many point their fingers at as the reason we are experiencing a housing shortage. In truth there are a myriad of reasons, the AirBNB/VRBO effect being just one piece of that. Whatever the reasons, however, there is a shortage of housing, both rentals and homes for sale, that are available and affordable to those who make up the workforce of the area.
Fortunately there is help on the horizon. Recent changes in TRPA rules regarding what they refer to as “Residential Bonus Units” or In-Law Units, aim to ease some pressure by allowing such units, formerly considered “non-conforming” (not permitted) with the presence of certain things like a range, full size sink, and counter/cabinet length exceeding 6 ft, to be legal units if they are used for “affordable, moderate, and achievable housing”. Their definition of who these units can be rented to covers low-income to what they refer to as “the missing middle”.
The Martis Fund mission is to “conserve open space, manage and restore habitat and forest lands, and support workforce housing and related community purposes in the Martis Valley and greater Placer County region.” Since it’s inception in 2006, the Martis Fund has been helping locals with a Home-Buyer Assistance program. Originally Placer County helped run the program until 2016 when they decided they no longer had the resources to administer it. After a short hiatus, the Martis Fund was up and running again in 2018 with the help of Sierra Business Council. Workforce housing has become an even greater priority for the Martis Fund as the scarcity in housing has become an ever-increasing problem. In addition to the Home-Buyer Assistance program, the Martis Fund has committed $1.4 million for the Artist Lofts which are part of the Truckee Railyard project. They have also committed an additional $450,000 for grants supporting workforce housing efforts.
The Martis Fund is funded through the transfer fee of homes in Martis Camp. Each time there is a real estate transaction in Martis Camp there is a fee associated with the transfer of the property which then goes into the Martis Fund. The Martis Fund then disperses these funds through grants or through their own projects. Their Home-Buyer Assistance program offers loans up to $50,000, or 10% of the purchase price, which are payment-deferred for the life of the loan. The program offers multiple benefits; by essentially giving the home-buyer a larger down-payment it enables the buyer to position themselves for better loan options, potentially enables them to avoid mortgage insurance, and in addition lowers their monthly mortgage payments because the payment of the principal and interest of the Martis Fund loan are deferred until the time a home is sold.
In addition to these great programs and changes, Town of Truckee has made it a priority to create more affordable housing. As mentioned earlier, the Artists Lofts are part of the Railyard Project and were the first portion of that proposal to be approved. It is envisioned as a mixed-use/mixed-income neighborhood of high density living in downtown Truckee.
Railyard Project Artist’s Lofts
Other lower-priced housing options are in midst of being proposed or built. Coburn Crossing located on Jiboom St close to I-80 is currently in the process of being built and will accomdate 127 hotel rooms and 138 apartments. The apartments will be a mix of studio, 1-bedroom and 2-bedrooms and will be available on a rental basis at market rates.
Multiple high-end housing developments have not yet completed their requirements to provide affordable housing as well. The current development code requires that affordable housing be built in conjunction with the development project. Currently Gray’s Crossing’s proposal, The Village at Gray’s Crossing, is under review. The proposal includes a 127 room hotel, 24 attached town homes, one triplex, one fourplex, two live/work buildings with 4900+ sq ft of commercial space and 3 units above, and 3 commercial buildings with lofts above. The proposal also includes an 8 pump gas station. All of this seems like a benefit to me to that part of town.
Village at Gray’s Crossing Townhomes
The Cold stream neighborhood, which received final town approval in 2014, should be finally getting underway sometime in 2019. The development was selected for a $10.7 mil grant through the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program in 2016. The grant will be used towards the development of 48 affordable housing units, and infrastructure and trail construction. It is my understanding via conversations around town thought I cannot confirm this that Teichert, who has long owned the property, will be undertaking the infrastructure development and a 3rd party will be doing the actual building and that it will commence this year. The project includes 300 residential units, including affordable housing, up to 30,000 sq ft of commercial space, 109 acres of open space, and 4.5 miles of trails.