One of the few large, mostly vacant parcels in Jackson zoned for workforce housing won't see a groundbreaking anytime soon. Instead, it'll keep doing what it's done for years: renting space to RVs.
In October, the Jackson Town Council and Teton County commissioners directed staff to take several steps on 90 Virginian Lane, according to the Housing Department's project page. The direction followed a staff report prepared for the boards' Oct. 5 joint meeting. Staff were told to:
- Prepare a request for qualifications for independent consulting help specific to 90 Virginian Lane, and bring the proposed scope back to the council and commission for approval.
- Draft a request for proposals for an RV park manager for the 2027 season, with an option to renew automatically for 2028.
- Draft a request for proposals for a regional housing needs assessment covering Teton County, Idaho, and Teton and Lincoln counties in Wyoming.
- Draft a request for proposals for consultants to update the 2015 Housing Action Plan.
The project page doesn't give vote counts.
How it got here
The Jackson/Teton County Housing Authority bought the 5.15-acre site in 2023 for $28 million, according to the Oct. 5 staff report. At the time, it was appraised at $31 million. The purchase was paid for with $18 million in tax-exempt bonds backed by 2022 SPET money, $2.59 million in 2019 SPET funds, $5.5 million in county mitigation fees and $2 million from the town.
A request for proposals for a development partner drew 11 responses from across the country. In August 2024, the boards directed staff to work with Pennrose LLC on at least 200 homes for local workers. The report says costs and market uncertainty rose after early 2024. In July 2026, both boards voted 3-2 to end negotiations with Pennrose.
Meanwhile, the RV park kept paying. The Housing Authority leased it to Virginian RV Park LLC for a $500,000 flat fee in 2025 and $400,000 for a shorter 2026 season. Because of the bonds, the authority can't ground-lease the park to a private operator going forward. It can hire a manager and keep the profits for housing, which is why staff are drafting a management contract instead. RV parks aren't allowed in any zone in the town, but this one is a legal nonconforming use, so it can keep operating.
Big questions first
The staff report suggested the boards sort out bigger issues before deciding what to build. It raised questions about whether the 65% resident workforce goal still holds and whether having all 10 elected officials steer projects together is working. It also noted that housing mitigation fees "are constantly being challenged at the state legislature," and that SPET is currently the only capital funding source for the housing program.
The numbers show the pressure. The 2022 needs assessment called for at least 2,000 below-market homes by 2027. The report says 480 deed-restricted homes have been built since 2022, and about 57% of the workforce lives locally.
Among options the report considered but didn't recommend were selling the property or rezoning it for a mobile home park of up to 70 to 80 units. Staff also flagged site questions: whether the zoning is right, whether to add an east-west connector from Karns Meadow Drive to Virginian Avenue, and whether to master-plan the site and split it into lots for several developers. On that last point, the report asked whether the Housing Authority or the public should pay for horizontal infrastructure for the whole site.
Why it matters for Contractors
Builders who were waiting on a 200-plus home project in Midtown Jackson should plan on waiting a while longer. Staff advised against working on a long-term solution until the bigger questions are answered. The report admits the delay has a cost: "Development will likely cost more per square foot because costs typically rise over time."
There's still near-term work to watch. The RV park management contract, the site-specific consulting job, the regional needs assessment and the Housing Action Plan update will all go through public solicitations. Planners and consultants should watch the county's bid postings.
For contractors, the most interesting signal is the master-plan idea. If the authority decides to put in streets and utilities and then sell or lease lots to several developers, that could mean a public horizontal infrastructure job followed by several smaller vertical projects.
Whatever comes back for 90 Virginian Lane will be shaped by the new studies, so they're worth following.