The long-stalled Chateau project in downtown South Lake Tahoe, which has been nothing but a major eyesore of bare concrete in the middle of town since financing for the $420 million project dried up in 2008, will finally see its day. City Council voted unanimously to move forward with construction of 27,686 square feet of retail shops and restaurants, which will cost about $11 million. Majority owner Bill Owens hope that the new construction will encourage investors to join in for the final phase, which calls for a lodging component and convention center. But it's not going to be everything South Lake has been hoping for.
As the renderings show, this initial retail phase will be built almost entirely along Lake Tahoe Boulevard, it will cover only a section of the exposed concrete and rebar, and will build out only the first of the three proposed floors. The entire packet of renderings, including comparisons to the original project, can be seen here. McP's Pub will takeover the corner spot at the intersection of Lake Tahoe Boulevard and Stateline Avenue, but a few other disappointments will carry through according to an article by Lake Tahoe News. The project will still be made up of 29 separate parcels instead of one unified block, and there will be no tunnel under Lake Tahoe Boulevard to get to the Heavenly gondola, as was the case in the 2007 plan. That means visitors (and if all works out to plan, there'll be a lot of them) will have to walk across the five lanes to get to and fro. At least the concrete will be gone...
· Long Stalled Chateau Project Moving Forward Again [Lakeside News]
· South Lake Tahoe Council unanimously approves next phase of multimillion dollar Chateau project [Lake Tahoe News]