Beach Club appeals $35.1 million valuation

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to indicate that Tahoe Beach Club's assessment has been at the same level for two years.

The owners of Tahoe Beach Club are appealing a $35.1 million value, claiming that because the development hasn't been completed, it's actually worth $24.57 million.

At issue is the amount of time it will take Beach Club to sell its remaining parcels. Under Nevada administrative code, parcels in a subdivision which are not sold, rented or occupied at the time of assessment may result in a reduction. In the case of Beach Club, they claim they are eligible for a 30 percent discount when the tax rolls closed for 2020-21. 

Assessor Trent Tholen said the property was assessed at  $35.1 million after a meeting with representatives two years ago. 

"If anything, it's undervalued," Tholen said on Thursday.

Hicks cited nearby Edgewood, which has an approval to build 40 cabins on a 4.56-acre parcel next to Edgewood Lodge.

“Both the subject parcels and the Edgewood Cabin Parcel are in close proximity to Lake Tahoe and have access to the Lake, but are not Lake-front properties,” Hicks wrote in his appeal. “The Edgewood Cabin Parcel has lake views, but the subject parcels do not.”

In the recommendation against reducing the value of the property the Assessor’s Office said that Phase I has 46 improved units in two buildings that were mostly sold in advance for between $1.225 and $5.1 million. The last unsold condo is pending sale for $5.495 million.

Phase II will have a different design from the first two buildings and is approved for four buildings and 32 units ranging from 1,250 to 2,800 square feet in size with private single and two-car garages. Preliminary site work has been completed and construction is expected to start this spring.

The second phase was released for sale in August 2020 and is now more than 50 percent pre-sold with only 14 units left, as of Thursday.

“There has not been a similar lake front development in Douglas County in 30 years,” according to Chief Deputy Appraiser Dion Etchegoyhen. “Due to the overall prime location of the Tahoe Beach Club, the lake frontage, number of luxury units approved, lack of lake-adjacent vacant parcels in the Tahoe Basin and the amenities included with this development, it is difficult to find similar comparable vacant sales.”

Etchegoyhen pointed out that the Edgewood lot was approved in 2014, but has yet to submit a final map as of Jan. 27.

“Until such time the 10 cabins have been individually parceled out or the parcel is under development, which would reflect a change in use, and for assessment purposes the parcel is not currently a similar project.”

The value of the Beach Club land remained unchanged from the time the owner purchased two parcels of the former Tahoe Shores Trailer Park in 2015 to when the maps reflecting parcel numbers were submitted.

The assessor’s office is recommending the Board of Equalization not change the value.

At $35 million, Beach Club would be the third highest assessed value property in Douglas County, if all the condos were combined.

Caesars Entertainment, which owns Harrah’s and Harveys in Stateline, is assessed at $78.8 million. Edgewood Co. has an assessed valuation of $49.8 million. Starbucks, which operates a roasting plant near Minden-Tahoe Airport, is valued at $31.4 million, according to the Assessor’s Office.

Douglas County’s assessed valuation for 2020-21 is a record $3.64 billion, a more than $1 billion increase from its nadir in 2013-14.

In Nevada, assessed value is 35 percent of taxable value, which is the total value of land and improvements. Property taxes are based on assessed value and is capped at no more than 3 percent increase per year for residential property.