SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — The Sugar Pine Village affordable housing project in South Lake Tahoe may break ground this year after receiving a chunk of money from the state.

The California Department of Housing and Community Development on Thursday announced $220 million in awards from the Multifamily Housing Program which includes about $19.6 million ($19,575,516) for the South Tahoe multi-family, mixed-use development.

The development is slated to be built on two parcels of California Tahoe Conservancy asset land at the “Y” — a 9.7-acre lot at 1860 Lake Tahoe Boulevard and the neighboring 1.6-acre parcel at 1029 Tata Lane.

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.

On the heels of the South Lake Tahoe project’s Affordable Housing and Sustainability Communities and Permanent Local Housing Allocation grant announcements, the MHP award represents a critical milestone in the 248-unit multi-phase workforce affordable housing development’s complex financing structure, said a news release from the city of South Lake Tahoe.

“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. “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.”

Sugar Pine Village is a result of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order directing the California Department of General Services, California Tahoe Conservancy and the HCD 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 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 will deliver much-needed affordable, workforce housing to residents earning 30-60% of the area median income, and is the largest multi-family housing project in South Lake Tahoe’s pipeline,” said the release

“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. “Saint Joseph Community Land Trust is extremely pleased to be the nonprofit developer partner for the Sugar Pine Village project which will bring 248 units of much needed studio, 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom workforce apartments as well as a childcare and community services facility to the Tahoe Basin.”