SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A historic hotel in downtown Sacramento now has the green light to become a homeless shelter.
Following a special meeting Tuesday afternoon that lasted three hours, Sacramento City Council members voted unanimously to approve a plan involving the Capitol Park Hotel, which sits at the corner of 9th and L streets.
Part of that plan allows the city to lend Mercy Housing California $13.37 million to purchase the Capitol Park Hotel and relocate the structure’s approximately 90 current tenants, in partnership with the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency.
RELATED: Sacramento man, 74, faces displacement as city seeks to turn his home into a homeless shelter
Capitol Park Hotel could turn into a triage center for the homeless as soon as this summer. After 18 months, the shelter would transition to become permanent supportive housing for people transitioning out of homelessness.
According to documents in the City Council agenda, the city anticipates that Mercy will be able to relocate all or most of the current tenants of Capitol Park Hotel within three months.
“However, it may take longer to rehouse all residents. Shelter operation will likely begin prior to all residents being relocated,” the documents say.
ABC10 spoke with one of those residents last week after Mayor Darrell Steinberg and Councilmember Steve Hansen announced plans to turn the Capitol Park Hotel into a homeless shelter.
"Trying to move by myself would be almost impossible,” 74-year-old David Nelson said.
He said he has lived at the Capitol Park Hotel for nearly 25 years. He currently pays $595 in rent. With medicine and other bills, he said his monthly expenses come to about $700.
"Anything much more than that is going to be very difficult for me,” he said.
Mercy Housing and SHRA says they will work with a relocation specialist to permanently relocate the current residents.
Once the city, SHRA and Mercy Housing California convert the Capitol Park Hotel into a triage center homeless shelter, “the City will allocate $300,000 for overtime police presence in the area immediately surrounding the rehousing shelter,” according to council agenda documents.
Other Proposed Homeless Shelter Sites
The plan council members approved Tuesday also authorizes city staff members to move forward with exploring developing a homeless shelter at a Caltrans-owned site under Business 80, at the intersection of Alhambra and the W/X Streets Corridor. It also directs staff to continue exploring scattered shelter sites.
“In this program, a community non-profit leases single-family homes in neighborhoods, looking for homes with at least 3-4 bedrooms, access to transit, and within a reasonable rental rate,” council documents say. “Up to five people can be sheltered at each site, and a house monitor is on-site 24/7. Case management is provided, and guests are provided transportation to appointments.”
These scattered site shelters are ideal for special populations, the city says, including the elderly, LGBTQ individuals and single women, “who may not feel comfortable in a congregate facility.”
The city says scattered site shelters can be established quickly and closed down as-needed.
“Sacramento Self Help Housing, who currently operates the program in the County, estimates that this program could be launched in the City, focusing on higher income areas, for approximately $115,000 per home per year,” city documents say.
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