With an influx of $50 million from the state, San Jose is gearing up to build more than 200 prefabricated units in the southern part of the city.
A new housing site on Branham Lane and Monterey Road will be a the first of its kind in the state—a three-story prefab modular project with 204 rooms with private bathrooms. The city is partnering with prolific interim housing site operator LifeMoves to develop the site and offer staffing services that include case management to formerly homeless residents who will be living there.
LifeMoves operates several sites in San Jose, including Julian Street Inn, The New Haven Inn, The Villa and the Georgia Travis House, among others across Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. LifeMoves also received a $26.6 million contract with Palo Alto this week to develop an interim housing site to shelter 300 people.
“This is a model that I think is somewhat revolutionary,” Mayor Sam Liccardo said at a Thursday news conference. “Rather than building apartment complexes that may take five or six years, we’re building projects in a matter of months. And rather than building projects that take $800,000 per unit to build, we’re building units at a small fraction of that cost early on through the pandemic, (costing) less than $100,000 per unit.”
The city and LifeMoves do not have a total cost estimate or timeline for the project yet, but the $51.6 million in state Project Homekey funds will help with construction and staffing on site, according to the mayor’s office. The site will need to be built within a year in accordance to state law.
The prefab units are pre-built in a factory, rather than constructed on site, making them cheaper and quicker to build, said Joe Stockwell, former LifeMoves board chair. The efficiency of such sites helps San Jose get hundreds of homeless individuals off the streets, housed and into programs that lead to permanent supportive housing. At sites, such as the one planned at Branham Lane and Monterey Road, about 82% transition to some form of housing and 56% go into permanent housing, according to Liccardo.
“These projects continue to give hope and support to our unhoused community,” said Councilmember Sergio Jimenez, who represents the area where the Branham site will be built. “I have no doubt that this project will be just as successful as the other projects in our district.”
District 2 in South San Jose has the most interim housing sites in the city. It’s been a point of contention for residents, especially as the city moves forward with another divisive plan on District 2 border—a safe parking program at the VTA Santa Teresa Station that has riled up residents in the area.
City officials say these plans are necessary tools to combat the ever-growing homelessness rate in the region. In San Jose, despite housing more than 6,000 unhoused residents, the homeless population has increased 11% since 2019.
In the beginning of the pandemic, San Jose set a goal to build 1,000 prefab units by the end of 2022. With this new site, San Jose is much closer to its goal with 717 units under construction or in development.
Other projects planned include a new quick-build community in District 10 on Caltrans-owned land at Great Oaks Boulevard and Highway 85. Another project is to expand the Rue Ferrari interim housing site from 118 beds to 218. The San Jose Police Department parking lot will add 20 more beds to the 76-bed tiny home site. The most contentious of all the projects is a 100-bed tiny home site on Noble Avenue in North San Jose.
Shaunn Cartwright, a homeless advocate and co-founder of the Unhoused Response Group, said quick-build interim housing sites are helpful, but not the end-all solution.
“They are far from ideal, but these shelters get more people off the street immediately because they can be done in a matter of months,” Cartwright told San José Spotlight.
Cartwright is excited for this project to come to fruition—especially because each unit has a private restroom which is helpful for seniors and those with disabilities, she said. The only downfall, in her opinion, is that the site is located in an area with limited access to food, medicine and other necessities. An area known as a “resource desert.”
“I hope they offer a shuttle service to get seniors or folks to places they need to go like the grocery store or the pharmacy,” Cartwright said. “The entire South Side is a resource desert.”
Contact Jana Kadah at [email protected] or @Jana_Kadah on Twitter.
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Sorry Sam but telling lies is no way to go through life. $50 million for 200 pre-manufactured trailers is not a bargain no matter who is trying to tell us it is. That’s $250K per trailer installed on land that is being used for free on a loaner from whoever is providing it. For the same money you could build 200 3/2 SFHs in central valley on land that is owned outright. Or you could build a very large hotel with hundreds of rooms to house the homeless. Instead, and not surprisingly so, we toss the money down the toilet on this idea paying $250K to house a single homeless person until the whole place eventually has to be demolished and the land given back to whoever provided it.
It’s very interesting this article has Liccardo on it. I have followed this since day 1 and it was originally CM Matt Mahan’s idea (or was it Sam’s idea and being pushed for him by Liccardo). I am VERY familiar with that area. It was originally in Mahan’s district 10 until the redistricting.
The homeowners and residents who met with Mahan said that he wasn’t interested in their concerns or the fact that there is a school, park and library nearby and said it would be safe.
“The only downfall is that the site is located in an area with limited access to food, medicine and other necessities. An area known as a “resource desert.”, Cartwright said.
What do you expect from a City that takes on the responsibility for the homeless that is rightfully the County’s?
San Jose is a magnet for homeless people. The weather, the services, the monthly General Assistance, sidewalk tables with free cell phones, tents, clothing, food, open camping. No matter how much is built for the homeless, more will come.
How much of this state and federal funding ends up in the non-profit CEOs and executives’ pockets?
Which one of Sams or Cindy’s friends is getting the better part of that 50 million. Get these professional politicians out of here. City hall is non partisan.
Agree with joe. This is unsustainable and just made to make a few feel good as if they’re making a difference. I’ve read around 7000 homeless in San Jose. 200 is a meaningless ineffective drop in the bucket for a lucky few while thousands sit on the street. At this cost it would require $7 BILLION dollars to house everyone. Is this the best use of $7 billion dollars? San Jose should not be in the business of building homes. It should provide emergency shelters and mental health services and require people to be off the street. No overnight sleeping in public space.
It somehow makes people feel good to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars per person for just a tiny number while ignoring thousands in need of shelter (not housing) and mental health.
Regarding permanent housing, this area is expensive. As Joe mentioned, they may be able to better get in their feet in a lower cost area. Home owners have worked hard to be able to afford real estate here. Having the government give housing away to a lucky few is unfair to everyone who owns or rents and has struggled to be able to afford housing one of the most expensive markets in the United States.
Something doesn’t add up. According to the Mercury News article, the units will be built on city-owned land.
If the units cost $100k, then we should be seeing way more than 200 units constructed. This is the problem with permanent or interim supportive housing. The cost is so high that one must conclude that corruption, graft, greed, and the enormous homeless industrial complex is eating away at precious dollars. When will the tax-paying citizens get an honest accounting? It’s hard to remain optimistic about this homeless situation when anyone with basic math can see the numbers just don’t compute!
Thank you! Audit the Housing Depaetment & non-profits NOW.
A full forensic audit showing where every last penny has gone.
Still NOT tackling the Root Causes – mental illness, drug addiction, and entitlement lifestyle.
“You CANNOT Build your Way Out of Homelessness”
With continued record breaking Inflation and building costs soaring, more and more money will be needed for these poorly cost-managed programs, the annual sustainment costs to maintain these properties, pay utilities and water, security and upkeep?
Even the LATimes recently reported on the unsustainable cost of these programs, “Affordable Housing in California Now Routinely Tops $1 Million per Apartment to Build” (LA Times, June 21, 2022)
“More than half a dozen affordable housing projects in CA are costing more than $1 million per apartment to build, a record-breaking sum that makes it harder to house the growing numbers of low-income Californians who need help paying rent…”
“In comparison with private sector development, low-income housing is often saddled with more stringent environmental (CEQA) and labor standards (unions want their cut). ”
All of these over $1 Million dollar so-called “affordable housing” projects are in the SF Bay Area.
Currently the Roosevelt Park (80 units) in San Jose – cost over $1,009,707 per apartment.
They do not want to actually end homelessness. That would end the gravy train, funded by taxpayers.
It is inhumane to leave the homeless on the streets and unfair to everyone else. We cannot legally move the unhoused from the streets unless we are offering alternative accommodations. This is one of the cheaper and faster options. Hopefully this will actually produce results that get the unhoused some help (non-profits must be held accountable) and vagrancy laws can finally be enforced.
$50M for 200 prefab houses works out to $250K per house. But this ignores the value of the land, and there will also be on-going monthly costs for electricity, water, trash pickup, maintenance, and security. And will there be any strings attached? Why should taxpayers be on the hook to provide free housing to drug addicts or mentally ill people who are not seeking treatment?
Small prefab houses or mini-houses for the homeless play well in the press because they look cute and inexpensive, but they are terribly space inefficient. A large, vacant lot can only be filled with about 50-100 mini-houses. The city will never find enough land to fix the homeless problem this way.
It would be far more efficient for the city to build and/or convert old high-rise buildings into shelters to get the homeless off our streets.
Yeah, Sam, it is a “model that works” unless you have to live nearby.
We have been Lied too, all the way to the Top Liar in the WH! What’s another lie in San Jose? Time to Stop this BS, and Elect People for the Tax Paying Public! Ask your local merchant how much is Stolen each Day. Cops don’t even arrest a Guy Stealing a Cat Converter. FBI, DJ all have been proven to be Corrupt! Wake up Folks. Vote them out!
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