Drive past 2 Stateline Road on a weekday morning and the sound is unmistakable. Heavy equipment. Backup beepers. Dirt moving. For thirteen years the only noise at the Cal Neva was wind through the pines and the occasional rumor about who might buy it next. This summer the property is a working construction site, and for anyone who has watched the plywood over those windows since 2013, that is the story.
If you live in Crystal Bay or drop down from Incline for coffee, you already know the outline. What you may not know is how far past the outline this project has gone in the last ninety days, or how differently the finished building is going to read compared to the Sinatra-era lodge people keep imagining. The thesis, and the reason this matters for the neighborhood beyond nostalgia, is simple: Crystal Bay is getting its town center back, and the version that opens will not be a restoration in the museum sense. It is a Kelly Wearstler-designed resort with a casino tucked inside, aimed at a guest who is coming to Tahoe for something other than a blackjack table.
The Money Landed in April
On April 3, Realberry and Proper Hospitality announced the closing of a $298 million financing package for the redevelopment of the historic Cal Neva Hotel into Lake Tahoe Proper Resort and Casino, slated to open in 2027. That number is the reason the machines are running.
The structure of the deal matters more than the headline figure. The $298 million capital stack combines $223 million in C-PACE financing from Nuveen Green Capital with a $75 million senior secured construction loan from Banc of California. C-PACE is a repayment mechanism tied to the property itself, spread out across decades, and it is used almost exclusively for energy and water efficiency work. Commercial real estate coverage has flagged the $223 million C-PACE loan as the largest C-PACE financing in Nevada and the first such transaction recorded in Washoe County.
Translated for anyone who has watched three ownership groups fail here: the money is real, it is structured for a long hold, and it is not the kind of financing that runs out mid-build. That is a meaningful departure from the last decade at this address.
What Is Being Torn Apart, and What Is Being Kept
The property that opened in 1926, burned in 1937, was rebuilt in wood, and was famously acquired by Frank Sinatra for eight years starting in 1960 is not going away. But it is being unbuilt down to the studs in places.
Realberry has confirmed the refurbishment of some of the resort's other prized features, including the iconic Circle Bar and the 225-seat theater. The company is also adding multiple restaurants and bars, two pool experiences, a spa and recreational facilities, a casino and meeting and event spaces to expand year-round use.
The specific historic pieces on the preservation list:
- The Circle Bar, restored inside its original footprint
- The Indian Room, being reintroduced as the Grand Lodge, with a striking 40-foot stone bar, flexible indoor and outdoor seating, and the iconic fireplace marking the California-Nevada state line
- The 225-seat non-amplified showroom where performers used to see every face in the audience
- The fabled Cal Neva tunnels, originally built to move alcohol during Prohibition and later used by Monroe to move about the premises. Portions of the tunnel system remain and have been upgraded to meet current codes as part of the restoration.
Beyond the historic core, the plan is materially bigger than the old footprint. The reimagined year-round property will include 197 guest rooms, suites and private villas; multiple restaurants and bars anchored by the iconic Circle Bar; two pool experiences, a spa and recreational facilities; and meeting and event spaces, including a restored 225-seat theater and a casino. The spa alone is being built out at 50,000 square feet, and the earlier prospectus described a wellness program that includes cold plunge pools, red light therapy, saunas, a Pilates studio, and an indoor padel court.
The old pool that was famously bisected by the state line is not coming back in its original form. The new Cal Neva would replace that monument with two lakefront pools, one exclusively for adults and one for families. The space will feature tiered cabana seating with loungers, all anchored by a restaurant and bar.
Why the Design Firm Choice Should Change Your Expectations
The operator and the designer tell you more about the finished product than any rendering. Colorado-based Realberry is leading the redevelopment, with Proper Hospitality slated to operate the property and designer Kelly Wearstler handling interiors. Plans call for a mix of restored lodge spaces and new villas, along with a private Proper Club membership component and a range of restaurant and bar concepts.
Proper Hospitality runs urban design hotels in places like Austin, Santa Monica, and Downtown LA. Kelly Wearstler is a Los Angeles-based interior designer whose work sits closer to art direction than hotel decor. This is the first Proper property in a residential neighborhood, and the interior language is going to feel closer to a downtown design hotel than the wood-paneled Tahoe lodge in local memory. Anyone expecting a straight recreation of the 1960s room where Marilyn Monroe stayed is going to be surprised. Anyone expecting a Tahoe version of a Proper hotel is going to be about right.
The design intention is on the record. Developers say the goal is not to erase the past but to carry it forward in a new form. The project recently reached a major milestone with the closing of a $298 million financing package, which developers say will fund a full-scale restoration of the nearly century-old resort and support its transformation into a design-driven destination.
The Timeline Slipped, and That Is a Good Sign
Two years ago the goal was a 2026 opening for the property's 100th anniversary. That target has moved. Realberry confirmed it is targeting a late 2027 opening. McWhinney originally wanted to reopen by December 2026 to celebrate the historic property's 100-year anniversary as well as Frank Sinatra's birthday, but they realized that was too ambitious.
Every prior owner missed a deadline too. What is different this time is that the deadline slipped after the financing closed rather than before it. The construction contract is with SMC Construction of Sparks, which has worked on high-end hotel and condo projects around the lake and in Park City. Roughly half the villa units are being built modular off-site and delivered, which is the standard Tahoe workaround for the short building season and the crowded subcontractor pool. In practical terms: expect construction traffic on Stateline Road, Reservoir Drive, and the Highway 28 corridor through 2026 and most of 2027.
The Property Next Door Is Also Waking Up
Cal Neva is the loudest project in Crystal Bay this summer, but it is not the only one. The Tahoe Biltmore, which closed in 2022 and has been the other dark building at the state line, is under new ownership and headed toward a Waldorf Astoria flag. Between the two projects, Crystal Bay is looking at the reintroduction of hundreds of hotel keys in a corridor that lost roughly 400 rooms over the last decade.
For residents this cuts two ways. The construction phase means noise, dust, and truck traffic for two more summers. The finished phase means the return of walkable evening life to a block that has effectively been vacant since Sinatra's grandkids were in school. For anyone who bought a home in Crystal Bay in the last ten years assuming the boarded-up buildings were permanent, the assumption is now dated.
Where to Actually Go in the Meantime
The one open casino in Crystal Bay, the Crystal Bay Club, is still doing what it has done since 2003, when Roger and Elise Norman took it over and rebuilt it from the basement up. The Steak & Lobster House inside the club remains the fine-dining option at the state line, with a wine list that has drawn recognition from Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast. Bistro Elise handles the more casual side of the same building. Across the highway, Jim Kelley's Tahoe Nugget has been in the Kelley family since 1961. At the west edge of Crystal Bay, Soule Domain has been operated by Charlie Soule for four decades in the small cabin next to the Nugget.
None of these places need the Cal Neva to reopen. They have all outlasted it. But the calculation of what a Friday night in Crystal Bay looks like in 2028 is very different from what it has looked like since 2013, and it is worth paying attention to which of the current operators expand, contract, or change hands as the block fills back in.
What This Means for the Rest of the Summer
If you live here, the short version is this. The fences at Cal Neva are staying up. The trucks are staying loud. The design that emerges is going to look less like Sinatra's lodge and more like a Proper hotel that happens to sit inside Sinatra's lodge. And the block that has been the quiet embarrassment of the North Shore for a decade is on a credible path to being the busiest corner between Kings Beach and Incline again by the end of 2027.
That is a lot of change for a neighborhood that has spent thirteen years used to nothing changing at all. If you are thinking about how any of it affects your own place on the hill, whether you own here already or are watching from farther away, the team at Incline Experts has been tracking every phase of the Cal Neva and Biltmore projects since the first community meeting, and we are happy to walk you through what we are seeing on the ground. Book an appointment when you want the local read.
