Urban Development is Changing Truckee

The Truckee Railyard redefining mountain living, an urban development is changing Truckee, California.  A vibrant downtown extension plan created from 10 years of community and business collaboration.  One of California’a hottest development projects.  After countless setbacks, and endless obstacles to overcome the development has continued to move forward.

“Truckee’s ambition is startling. First, it’s starting with affordable housing — often the last type of housing to be added to a project, given the political and financial challenges. Second, it’s exactly the sort of dense, urban development that draws fierce opposition in the state’s biggest cities.

While the project has gotten little notice outside the Sierra, that seems likely to change as construction continues. The project used innovative financing mechanisms, including dollars from the state’s cap-and-trade program. It is likely to employ factory-made housing as a way of reducing the sky-high costs of construction. And gubernatorial front-runner Gavin Newsom has praised Truckee for supporting smart development.

For Truckee, the project is the culmination of a quarter-century journey. While the town dates to the 1870s, it only incorporated in 1993 because residents of the 34-square-mile town wanted control over land-use planning after years of new house-building on its outskirts by Bay Area vacationers. The final straw was the county’s imposition of a Kmart outside downtown, despite objections to the traffic it would create.

Over the past decade, the plan has survived blows that have killed other projects. A CEQA lawsuit against the plan — litigation that routinely blocks approval of development around the state — failed. The Great Recession put the project on ice. Then, in 2011, Gov. Jerry Brown and the courts killed the redevelopment program that Truckee was intending to use to finance the project.

Instead, Holliday secured more than $12 million from cap and trade — because the rail yard represented affordable, higher-density development that means people drive less and produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions. In all, the town and Holliday cobbled together $30 million for infrastructure, including private financing.” By Joe Mathews with the San Francisco Chronicle.  Click here to read the rest of the article.

Big changes to the Downtown of Truckee are on the way.  These are very exciting times for this small yet charming snowy mountain town.  If you are interested in learning about any of the new and upcoming projects happening in Truckee or North Lake Tahoe, contact Carmen Carr your very knowledgeable Global Real Estate Advisor.