I almost hate to ask, sounding like a broken record all these years, but is anything happening yet with the Cal Neva Lodge up at north Lake Tahoe? There have been so many announcements and plans for so long. What's the latest up there -- if there is any?
Here it is again, right on schedule: another question about the legendary Cal Neva. This historic property on the north shore of Lake Tahoe that straddles the Nevada-California state line at Crystal Bay is of enduring interest to plenty of people, including ourselves, so we're happy to answer the questions, whether or not any activity has been reported. In this case, there is a little.
To review, the Cal Neva Lodge was purchased by Larry Ellison, executive chairman and chief technology officer of Oracle Corp., who owns a nearby property, through bankruptcy proceedings in 2016 for $36 million. Ellison announced big plans, including in 2019 a partnership with Japanese hotel-restaurant chain Nobu to rebrand and revitalize the aging property. None of that came to pass and he sold Cal-Neva to McWhinney, a Denver-based real-estate and development company, in 2023 for a reported $51 million, a $15 million or so profit for Ellison. The rich get richer.
McWhinney announced its intention to build "a luxury hotel" on the site, with sporadic updates, mostly about the company's sensitivity to the "community's emotional connection" to the property, which led to "80 one-on-one meetings, 20 tours of the property, and four open-house sessions with more than 170 attendees," according to a story on SFGate. The timeline according to McWhinney was a grand opening in conjunction with a celebration of the Cal-Neva's 100-year anniversary in August 2026.
Well, that ain't gonna happen. However, there does seem to be some progress being made up there.
Earlier this year, McWhinney went through a brand change to become Realberry. The company recently announced that it had secured a $298 million loan to proceed with the Cal Neva restoration-reopening project. According to a prospectus that was sent to private investors and obtained by SFGate, the renamed Lake Tahoe Proper Resort & Casino (the rooms will be run by the luxury lifestyle Proper Hotel), will see major changes, including the restoration of the Indian Room, the iconic Circle Bar, and the 225-seat theater. The plans also call for a 40,000-square-foot “indoor/outdoor wellness sanctuary” -- spa, fitness center, and "comprehensive recovery facilities—including cold plunge pools, red light therapy chambers, premium saunas, Pilates studio, and garden with private pool.”
An exclusive club is also in the works, with a tiered membership structure starting at invitation only for investors and a Founders tier with a buy-in of $250,000 and annual dues starting at $22,500.
Every time we update this answer, it seems that the Cal Neva gets more posh, privileged, and prohibitive, a far cry from the rest of little Crystal Bay (and King's Beach on the California side). It's not a surprise; this has been the vision since Ellison, the sixth richest person in the world, bought the joint a decade ago. The announced reopening date is now "sometime in 2027." And regardless of how preferential the new Cal Neva might be, we hope to see it. We really do. It would be a great day for Crystal Bay, north Lake Tahoe, and Nevada history.
But we're not holding our breath. So many owners, bankruptcies, buyers, and developers have come and gone over the years, including several since the joint closed in 2010, that wait-and-see is as good as we'll go.
