In The News – Can Crystal Bay Shine Once Again?
November 26, 2024 | Member Submitted
Originally Published in Moonshine Ink, 11/14/2024, Written by Melissa Siig
The small Tahoe enclave has seen better days. Can the redevelopment of the Cal Neva and Biltmore return the area to its former glory?
Charlie Soule has owned The Soule Domain restaurant at the western entrance to Crystal Bay for 40 years. In that time, he has watched the small casino corridor go from a vibrant neighborhood full of shops, restaurants, and a bustling nightlife to an area with boarded-up and dilapidated buildings and empty parking lots littered with trash. Out of the three anchor businesses in Crystal Bay — the Crystal Bay Club, Tahoe Biltmore, and Cal Neva — two have been closed for several years: the Cal Neva since 2013 and the Biltmore since 2022. Just to the west of The Soule Domain, another derelict building, the Tahoe Inn, has been sitting empty for almost 10 years.
“Right now, and I’ve been here a long time, the neighborhood sucks,” Soule said. “It’s about as bad as it’s ever been.”
The tiny neighborhood of Crystal Bay, which abuts the California-Nevada border and straddles Highway 28, presents a strange dichotomy.