Our Newest Affordable Housing Breaks Ground

An artist’s rendering of the new Kelly Ridge senior housing complex.

A 33-unit complex offering housing to low-income senior citizens broke ground at the corner of Pioneer Trail and Herbert Avenue on Tuesday.

 The project is a response to the popularity of Tahoe Senior Plaza on Third Street, a 45-unit complex that has had a years-long waiting list since opening in 1999.

 The new two-story complex will include 30 one-bedroom and three two-bedroom units. One unit will be set aside for an on-site manager.

The project will offer plenty of community space as well, such as a library, computer room, exercise room, multipurpose room and kitchenette.

 The housing is for low-income residents age 62 and older. Six of the units will offer "deep affordability" through the Section 8 housing program, officials said.

With construction expected to take about a year, residents could be moving into the new complex next summer.

"This has been a dream for a long time," said Jan Nunes, project manager with American Baptist Homes of the West (ABHOW), a Pleasanton-based nonprofit developing the project.

Nunes was among officials gathered at the construction site for the groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday.

 Officials announced during the ceremony that the project, which has been called Tahoe Senior Plaza II, is being renamed Kelly Ridge to honor David Kelly, who spearheaded the development.

 "Work force and affordable housing does not happen by accident," said South Lake Tahoe City Manager David Jinkens, who lauded Kelly for his efforts on the project.

 The project is a collaboration among several entities, and Kelly was instrumental in bringing them all together, Nunes explained after the ceremony.

 Kelly also was a driving force to develop Tahoe Senior Plaza I, she said. In addition to his work on affordable housing, Kelly is chairman of the Tahoe Area Coordinating Council for the Disabled.

 Kelly Ridge will be nestled in the forest on a 3.16-acre parcel. Of approximately 500 trees on the site, 117 are slated for removal, according to Dennis Oliver, spokesman for the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. The agency's Governing Board approved the project in February.

Fourteen new conifers, along with 33 aspens, will be planted at the site to increase the diversity of the forest. Erosion-control measures also will be implemented.

The building will be set back 120 feet from Pioneer Trail in consideration of the road's designation as a scenic corridor, Oliver said.

 The project will include 36 parking spaces and a bus stop on the Herbert Avenue side. In addition, the complex will have its own van for transporting residents.

 Construction costs for the project are estimated at $8 million. The major sources of funding are $4.73 million in tax-exempt bonds through the California Housing Finance Agency; a $3.4 million loan from the city of South Lake Tahoe through the state of California HOME Program; and a $906,000 loan from the South Tahoe Redevelopment Agency.

The property will be deed-restricted for low-income senior housing for 55 years.

 Residents for the new complex will be selected by lottery. Applications are not yet available; for more information, call Tahoe Senior Plaza I at (530) 542-7048.