The Ranch
160 Mesa Road, Bolinas and Bo-Linda Vista
Permanent homes coming soon!
It’s official: BCLT has completed the purchase of 160 Mesa Road, the former Tacherra Ranch. This marks a major milestone in creating permanent affordable housing for Bolinas. Together with the 20-acre property at 130 Mesa Road, the land will be deed-restricted for long-term affordable housing. The project grew out of an urgent need to prevent displacement.
In 2023, BCLT created Bo-Linda Vista as temporary housing after Marin County condemned substandard structures at the ranch, putting 60 long-time community members at risk of losing their homes.
Now, those same families will have priority to qualify for 25 permanently affordable homes, including eight ownership and 17 rental homes. The future homes will be built where the former dwellings stood, allowing more than 80% of the ranch to remain open space and agricultural land. It is an opportunity to preserve the land’s history and character while creating a lasting foundation for the future of Bolinas. With ownership secured, BCLT is moving forward with environmental cleanup, site planning, design and community engagement.
The BCLT is so grateful to have received $2 Million from the State of California. A gift of such magnitude is transformational in our efforts to secure affordable housing in perpetuity. This result is a direct reflection of our entire team, and the trust our efforts have built with the State and our supporters in our ability to see our massive undertaking at The Ranch at 160 Mesa through to completion.
This milestone isn't the finish line — it's just the beginning of what The Ranch and our other projects will need to make lasting change in our community.
Last year, in parallel to the BCLT’s efforts to solve the potential displacement of 60 people, which includes 25% of our local student body, cross-sector partners formed The Committee for Housing Agricultural Workers and Their Families.
That year the Committee commissioned a Housing Action Study to better understand the existing housing conditions and unmet housing needs of agricultural workers and other lower-income households in West Marin and the social, economic, and racial barriers they experience accessing reliable, quality housing. The resulting report, published in 2024 summarizes population, housing, and employment trends, as well as findings from primary research conducted by and with local communities to identify housing barriers and solutions.
The study, which employed in-depth interviews, surveys, listening sessions, and thorough document review and analysis revealed four key themes:
The insufficient supply of quality affordable housing negatively impacts everyone in West Marin and Beyond.
The majority of existing rental housing is in poor condition, unaffordable, and/or inaccessible.
There are significant policy, economic, and community challenges to improving existing housing and building new housing.
The voices and experiences of Latino workers and residents are essential to solving the housing crisis.
