Our public and private partners announced they will be submitting 9 proposals for State Project Homekey funding, which has the potential to spur the creation of more than 800 new deeply affordable and interim homes in our community in the next nine months.
Through this level of regional collaboration, the partners hope to optimize this unique funding opportunity to rapidly develop more permanent and interim housing options, which will be critical for progress towards the goals of the 2020-2025 Community Plan to End Homelessness. Since January 2020, our community has helped connect 4,886 homeless individuals to permanent housing and added 454 beds to our temporary housing and shelter inventory.
Collaborating to Quickly Expand Our Housing Supply
The 2021-2022 State budget adopted earlier this summer allocated $2.75 billion to expand Project Homekey – a statewide program launched last year to purchase and rehabilitate buildings and convert them into permanent, long-term housing for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Cities in Santa Clara County were successful in securing four Homekey Awards in the first round, resulting in creating 364 permanent homes for homeless individuals and families.
Since the program expansion was announced, the County of Santa Clara, Santa Clara County Housing Authority, individual cities, affordable housing developers and other non-profit providers have been evaluating opportunities to leverage this new source of state funding to expand the supply of deeply affordable housing in our community.
As a result of these early discussions, our community will submit Homekey proposals in 4 different Santa Clara County cities, a key element of our collective efforts to expand new housing opportunities in every part of Santa Clara County. Among the local development proposals seeking Homekey funding are:
- Arena Hotel (San José): A partnership between the City of San José, Urban Housing Communities and HomeFirst to convert this 89-unit hotel located at 817 The Alameda into permanent housing.
- Bella Vista Inn (Santa Clara): Resources for Community Development (RCD) will serve as the co-applicant with the County of Santa Clara. The first phase will include the acquisition, minor renovation, and interim use of the existing motel at 3550 El Camino Real to provide up to 64 units of transitional housing. The second phase of the development (which is still under review and pending approval) would result in 120 permanent affordable and supportive housing units in the future.
- Crestview Hotel (Mountain View): The County of Santa Clara is working with the City of Mountain View to acquire and renovate the existing 67-unit hotel at 901 E. El Camino Real into permanent affordable and supportive housing units. The development consists of minor improvements to the exterior, interior improvements including adding kitchenettes to the units, and potentially combining units to accommodate larger families.
- Pacific Motor Inn (San José): A partnership between the City of San José and PATH Ventures to convert this 72-unit hotel on 455 S. 2nd Street into permanent housing.
- Pavilion Inn (San José): The City of San José, the Santa Clara County Housing Authority and the Bill Wilson Center will collaborate to convert this 61-unit hotel located at 1280 N. 4th Street into interim housing to serve our homeless youth.
- Residence Inn (San José): The City of San José and the Santa Clara County Housing Authority will collaborate on this project to convert the 150-unit hotel located at 6111 San Ignacio Avenue into permanent housing for homeless families.
- New Emergency Interim Housing Site (Palo Alto): The City of Palo Alto is collaborating with LifeMoves for a Homekey application to develop 88 emergency interim housing units for singles, couples, and families. The site is located at 1237 San Antonio Road.
- New Emergency Interim Housing Site (Santa Clara): LifeMoves and the City of Santa Clara are exploring the development of an interim housing site that would accommodate up to 75 units. The site is located at 2035 White Oak Lane.
- New Emergency Interim Housing Site (San José): The City of San José and LifeMoves will develop a new 176-unit emergency interim housing development on a city-owned property at the intersection of Branham Lane & Monterey Road.
Read more about our community’s efforts to quickly create new housing options.
Show Your Support for These Projects
There are two upcoming opportunities to learn more and speak in support of these much-needed projects.
Join the Santa Clara County Office of Supportive Housing and the City of San José Housing Department at a public meeting on Friday, October 1 at 4pm.
And join our Housing Ready Communities team for a short meeting with supporters and advocates on Monday, October 4 from 5:30-6pm to ask questions and prepare to speak in support at the San José City Council meeting the following day. Register today to receive virtual meeting access information and to be added to the calendar invitation.
