San Jose will use $25.2 million in new condition funding to transform a downtown hotel into housing for homeless citizens, the city introduced this week.
The 90-home Arena Lodge on The Alameda will be purchased by the city working with funding from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Homekey program, which will help towns, counties and nonprofits obtain resorts, flats and other properties and change them into homeless housing. The program has awarded funding for 10,000 housing units so considerably, and this 7 days Newsom stated he intends to pour another $150 million into Homekey coffers.
“We’re doubling down on our nation-major efforts to tackle the homelessness disaster,” he wrote in a information launch. “Homekey has been daily life-changing for hundreds of persons — and $150 million in further funding will shelter hundreds much more, supplying them with the vital methods and harmless residing ailments they have earned.”
Homekey doled out $846 million in 2020. In September, Newsom announced one more $2.75 billion would go out over the course of two years — with about $200 million reserved for Bay Region jobs in the initial 12 months. If authorized by the legislature, the more $150 million Newsom proposed this 7 days will make a full of $1.5 billion in grants out there up coming yr.
“We look forward to an additional $150 million as proposed by the Governor to support even additional models for people today seeking for hope, therapeutic and a place to simply call property,” California Business enterprise, Client Products and services and Housing Company Secretary Lourdes Castro Ramírez wrote in the release.
Other Homekey awards this 7 days went to the town of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, San Joaquin County, Fresno and Vallejo.
In San Jose, the Arena Resort shortly will dwelling homeless people today as well as couples.
“In 2016, San José pioneered a new solution to housing our unhoused neighbors by getting and converting motels and motels into dignified residing accommodations for our most susceptible people. That product successfully moved 1000’s of San Joséans off the street,” Mayor Sam Liccardo said in an emailed assertion. “Governor Newsom’s determination to commit in motel conversions statewide by means of Homekey presents us an option to scale this solution.”
San Jose acquired $14.5 million in Homekey money to buy the SureStay hotel in 2020. That hotel, which experienced been supplying susceptible people cost-free rooms to shelter in put all through the COVID-19 pandemic, has struggled to transition to a extensive-time period housing design where residents pay out down below-market-price rent. The changeover stalled when a point out lawmaker accused the metropolis of proposing rents that were being as well substantial and alerted the state’s Section of Housing and Neighborhood Enhancement, which agreed. The city disagreed with the state’s assertion, but acquiesced to reassessing its lease construction.
