Controversial San Jose shelter to become permanent housing

A large South San Jose homeless shelter will be converted to permanent supportive housing following complaints from neighbors over crime and safety.

The City Council on March 17 approved converting 1 Branham Lane — a 168-apartment, three story complex plagued with structural and managerial issues — from temporary shelter into permanent housing. The modular housing site will serve low-income residents with low-acuity needs. The city manager is expected to provide an update on the conversion by Aug. 31.

District 2 Councilmember Pamela Campos, who represents the area, initiated the change. In her memo, she said converting Branham would “increase the supply of desperately needed permanent housing” while reducing the city’s operating costs. It’s unclear where the funding to convert the site will come from.

“One Branham Lane was designed to be converted into permanent housing. My recommendation for this conversion is in line with the site’s intended purpose,” Campos told San José Spotlight. “The recent and upcoming change in operator provides a clear opportunity to move in that direction and add the long-term housing our system is currently missing.”

The decision follows the arrest of a LifeMoves caseworker earlier this month, who allegedly sold drugs to residents at Branham Lane. Management fired workers who reported their suspicions about the drug dealing. The city terminated LifeMoves’ contract to operate the shelter days after the arrest.

A San Jose Housing Department spokesperson said the transition to a new operator will happen over the next few months, and the conversion to permanent housing will happen at a later date.

“The state and county, along with LifeMoves and a yet to be determined new site operator, will all be part of this (transition) process across the coming weeks and months,” spokesperson Sarah Fields told San José Spotlight. “No current client at the site will be displaced as a result of this transition.”

But Branham Lane residents feel uncertain about their future with the site planned to turn into permanent housing — and worry there’s not enough shelter beds for the roughly 200 people living there. Kim Keltner, a 52-year-old resident, lived in her car prior to being placed at Branham Lane. She has poor circulation on her legs, and said her health deteriorated while living in her car without room to elevate them. Having her own space has been lifesaving, she said.

“Granted this place has issues, but I love my little place,” Keltner told San José Spotlight. “(It) has really made a difference in my life.”

The city did not provided clear answers as to how Branham Lane residents will be transitioned out of the site or where they’ll go. Campos’ office directed all questions to the housing department.

“What’s going to happen to us?” one Branham Lane resident, who wished to stay anonymous, told San José Spotlight. “Why not let people who don’t have any issues stay here? They’re just shuffling the problem around.”

‘A nuisance’

The upcoming conversion is a welcome relief for some residents in the neighborhoods near Branham Lane, who have said their quality of life has decreased since it opened February 2025. Neighbors have complained about feeling unsafe, fire alarms ringing and drug dealing.

RJ Tolo, who lives next to Branham Lane, said neighbors have had to install multiple security cameras. Since the shelter opened, there’s been more police around and people loitering on the street near their home, he said.

“It’s a really good thing to get these guys out,” Tolo told San José Spotlight. “I think it’s been a nuisance since that thing has come up.”

Other nearby residents said they feel safe in the neighborhood and think Branham Lane should remain temporary housing for homeless people.

“I was really happy that people who really needed it could have that type of access (to housing),” Madeleine Harmath, 58, told San José Spotlight. “When you feel like there’s shelter and there’s a place to live, you can get your act together because (it) gives you a moment to take a deep breath, go find a job or whatever is required for you to get back on your feet. I viewed it as, finally, the city is taking care of its own.”

San Jose has more than 6,500 homeless people, according to a count conducted last year. About half are unsheltered in a region where renters pay the second-highest rent in the U.S., and many are cost-burdened. San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan has focused on building temporary housing, like the Branham Lane site, to get homeless people off the streets by reallocating affordable permanent housing funds from Measure E, a real estate property transfer tax city voters approved in 2020.

Representatives for the mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Branham Lane is San Jose’s first multistory, modular temporary housing site, with the ability to combine rooms to accommodate larger families. It offers residents an apartment-like setting, with their own bathroom, kitchen and shower— despite structural flaws that have led to shower benches collapsing, water that smelled like sewage, windows that don’t open and concerns of mold. It cost roughly $60 million to build, with a majority of funding coming from the state Project Homekey program, and about $6 million a year to operate.

Homeless advocate Gail Osmer said she understands neighbors’ concerns, but she also worries how the conversion is going to play out.

“Where are they going to put people?” Osmer told San José Spotlight. “There’s no place. Everywhere is full.”

Contact Joyce Chu at [email protected] or @joyce_speaks on X.