Lake Tahoe maritime museum closing, selling prominent building for $4.95 million
A prominent property that houses the Tahoe Maritime Museum and Gardens in Lake Tahoe is for sale for $4.95 million.
Ian McLeod, listing agent with Corcoran Global Living, said the highly visible 9.5-acre parcel, and an adjoining piece of land of about 1.5 acres, is very desirable.
“This an eleven-acre commercial parcel on the cusp of Tahoe City’s commercial core,” he said. “Since the new (Tahoe City) bypass opened, it is now one of the commercial sites first to be seen by all the West Shore traffic coming into the Tahoe Basin. It’s on an elevated corner lot and is the site of a striking 6,500 square-foot building, unique at the size, and surrounded by garden grounds that were developed by the area’s premiere landscaping firm.”
The building was constructed in the late 1980s, McLeod said. It was home to the Tahoe Tree Company for many years before the maritime museum purchased the property, “accounting for its lovely grounds, water features, expansive lawn and gazebo,” he added.
“The museum building has an attractive and spacious interior space with open log-beam construction, polished concrete floors, office, and conference potential,” according to the official listing. “The land includes gardens, ponds, a gazebo, and 40 parking spaces.”
The landscaping is utilized as a wedding venue, McLeod said, “and suitable for a variety of outdoor events in the hands of new ownership.”
The nonprofit Tahoe Maritime Museum has been closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now, it is transitioning into a maritime foundation after fundraising goals fell short of supporting a physical museum, Bud Bensley, president of the museum’s board of directors, said in an email.
“Over the coming months, TMM will initiate the protocol required to distribute the artifact and archival collections to relevant museums and nonprofits around Lake Tahoe, Northern California and the greater United States,” Bensley wrote in the email. “Any items from the collection not relocated to another organization will go to public sale. Both the Museum’s Tahoe City and Homewood properties will be listed for sale. The Board of Directors intends to establish an endowed foundation that will continue to preserve maritime history,”
The museum’s Homewood property at 5205 West Lake Boulevard features nearly 6,000 square feet of interior space on nearly half an acre and 17 dedicated parking spots. It’s listed by Corcoran Global Living for $2.85 million.
While local residents are losing their museum, McLeod said the neighborhood may see “a mixed use providing additional and crucially-needed housing, plus a use that will benefit and excite the largely residential surrounding neighborhoods,” such as upscale or specialized grocery-type businesses.
“It is the first keystone corner on the West Shore with a heightened profile given the recent bypass addition,” he said. “For example, this could now become the first ‘grocery’ West Shore residents come to entering the Basin.”
This story was originally published May 7, 2020 at 9:23 AM with the headline "Lake Tahoe maritime museum closing, selling prominent building for $4.95 million."
