SACRAMENTO, Calif. — According to a recent update from the Sacramento City Council, only three of the eight housing sites named in its bedrock homelessness response legislation, the Comprehensive Siting Plan, are currently running.
The three sites include:
1. Miller Park 'Safe Grounds' Site - 60 tents
2. X-Street Navigation Center - 100 beds
3. North 5th Street Navigation Center - 163 beds
A total of 20 housing sites were considered when the original Comprehensive Siting Plan was approved in Aug. 2021 by city officials.
The sites were then narrowed down in April for city staff to focus on continuing development at eight locations.
Emergency and Transitional Housing
One of the Sacramento city sites making it past the planning stages is the hospice center Joshua's House, which was met with controversy by the nearby community.
South Natomas Neighborhood Association members told ABC10 they were concerned about negative impacts on children who attend a nearby elementary school.
The hospice center broke ground on June 8 and is expected to open in 2023.
Meanwhile, proposed safe parking sites at Colfax Yard and the Roseville Road Light Rail station, plus the two other unnamed housing sites, remain without development or a launch date.
But this week Mayor Darrell Steinberg announced the city's plan to develop its first large-scale permanent affordable housing project with 820 new units in development.
"We've taken the money we've raised through the Measure U, through the federal funds and we're putting it directly into the production of over 800 additional (housing) units," Steinberg said.
Bob Erlenbusch with the Coalition to End Homelessness said many unhoused and minimum wage workers will have little direct benefit from the new units.
"We're in a crisis. What they vote on (Tuesday), even though it's a feel-good measure, it's small baby steps toward creating affordable housing, but it's not anywhere close to the need," he told ABC10.
In addition to these housing sites, Sacramento city officials currently help oversee existing emergency shelters across the city. The locations include:
- Meadowview Navigation Center, opened Oct. 1, 2020 - 100 beds
- Grove Avenue, opened June 2020 - 24 cabins
Permanent Supportive Housing
Staybridge Extended Stay Hotel in North Natomas and Woodsprings Suites motel in South Sacramento were purchased by city officials in 2020 with state funding.
The two emergency shelters launched under Project Homekey have since transitioned into permanent supportive housing complexes overseen with the help of city officials.
1. La Mancha, re-opened as permanent supportive housing in 2021 (100 units)
2. Vista Nueva, re-opened as permanent supportive housing in 2022 (116 units)
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced earlier this year $23.9 million to turn the downtown Best Western Sutter House hotel at 1100 H St. into 92 units of permanent supportive housing.
The Sutter House hotel at 1100 H St. will also be converted into permanent affordable housing. City officials say the Central Sacramento Studios project is set to have 22 beds.
After planning and evaluation of the eight housing sites identified in the Sacramento Comprehensive Siting Plan, including the three already active, $19 million is left in unobligated funds.
City staff recommended Tuesday the funds should be redirected toward Sacramento's renewed effort of developing more permanent affordable housing projects.
