State funding could be the answer for a long-awaited affordable housing development to begin construction.
Santa Clara County is applying for up to $40.5 million in Project Homekey+ funding for the Algarve Apartments at 1135 E. Santa Clara St. next to Roosevelt Park in San Jose. When completed, the development will have 91 homes — half designated for homeless individuals and half for lower income residents, according to a county memo. The funding is coming from Proposition 1, passed by voters last March.
Kathryn Kaminski, acting supportive housing director, said the county identified the apartments as a viable project to receive state funds. For now, this is the only project the county has applied for Homekey+ funding. Awards will be given starting in June, and if the county receives funding, construction could be finished by October 2027.
“Algarve Apartments will… (provide) much needed affordable housing for unhoused and extremely low-income residents,” Kaminski told San José Spotlight. “Participation in the Homekey+ program would enhance the funding for the Algarve Apartments project to the point where it could begin construction.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom in September launched Project Homekey+, which sets aside $2.2 billion to house homeless veterans and people with behavioral health or substance use issues. This most recent iteration builds upon the state’s Homekey program launched at the beginning of the pandemic, which gives localities money to build or convert commercial properties, hotels, adult residential facilities and more into permanent or temporary housing for people experiencing homelessness.
The 8-story site will be constructed by Abode Housing Development, an arm of nonprofit Abode Services. Abode has also converted the former Santa Clara Inn and Plaza Hotel into housing for homeless people.
“Homekey+ funding is crucial to bridge the gap between the existing county and Housing Authority funding commitments and what is needed to start construction,” Jon White, Abode’s chief real estate officer, told San José Spotlight. “Abode is thrilled that Homekey + funding can now be used to move shovel-ready projects forward to start construction.”
San Jose has received about $121 million through Project Homekey for five projects, according to numbers provided by the Housing Department. These five sites include the Arena Hotel, the former SureStay motel, Sunrise Pavilion (formerly Pavilion Inn), Pacific Motor Inn and the Branham Lane multi-story modular village, which opened earlier this month. Residents living at Arena Hotel and the former SureStay motel, operated by HomeFirst, have had issues with their living conditions and management even as the city took dozens of people off the streets.
Algarve Apartments has also received more than $31 million from the state’s No Place Like Home program and the county’s Measure A, a $950 million housing bond passed by voters in 2016 to build affordable housing. Measure A has helped fund 57 affordable housing developments across the county, resulting in more than 5,000 apartments for formerly unhoused residents or low-income earners. Some of these developments also provide supportive services for disabled individuals and families.
The housing bond was the first of its kind in Santa Clara County that prioritized deeply affordable and supportive housing, according to Ray Bramson, chief operating officer of Destination: Home and columnist for San José Spotlight. But these funds have been exhausted.
There are roughly 10,000 homeless people in the county, with 6,340 in San Jose. The city’s main focus is to get an estimated 5,500 unsheltered people off the streets. To accomplish this, Mayor Matt Mahan wants to shift permanent affordable housing dollars from Measure E, a property transfer tax approved by voters in 2020, into temporary housing solutions. Advocates said investing in permanent housing is a necessity to achieve successful long-term outcomes.
“It’s critical that we continue to find local money to build housing for seniors, families, veterans and disabled members of our community,” Bramson previously told San José Spotlight. “Without a source, those developments just won’t happen and then we won’t have places for these people to go home to.”
Contact Joyce Chu at [email protected] or @joyce_speaks on X.
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