OC to Buy Travelodge Motel in Costa Mesa for Project Homekey

Orange County will buy a 78-room Costa Mesa motel for conversion into homeless housing under the state’s Project Homekey program.

The OC Board of Supervisors directed staff to purchase the Travelodge by Wyndham Orange County Airport/Costa Mesa at 1400 Bristol Street, the Orange County Register reported. The seller and the price of the 3.5-acre property were undisclosed.

In August, American Family Housing was awarded a $29 million Project Homekey grant from the state Department of Housing and Community Development. The Midway City-based nonprofit developer will revamp the motel and run it as supportive housing.

The makeover at Bristol Street and Santa Ana Avenue northeast of the Santa Ana Country Club is part of a partnership with the cities of Costa Mesa and Newport Beach.

Plans call for revamping the motel into 78 apartments, including two market-rate units for managers and 76 permanent supportive homes. The affordable units will include 36 studios and 40 one-bedroom apartments, plus the two units for managers.

The $45 million redevelopment project, dubbed Homekey Bristol, includes a $4 million contribution from Costa Mesa and $3 million from neighboring Newport Beach. Orange County kicked in $7 million and nearly 50 project-based vouchers.

“This is the sixth project that we’ve initiated here in Orange County,” Fifth District Supervisor Katrina Foley said. “Project Homekey really transforms spaces — hotels, other underutilized buildings — into critically needed permanent supportive housing.”

The conversion, slated to begin soon, will include larger studios, kitchenettes and community program rooms. The project is expected to take a year to complete and finish leasing by the end of next year.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the grant this summer among the latest Project Homekey awards, saying the $3.6 billion investment in the program since 2020 has created 15,850 homes. State officials estimate 172,329 households will be served over the life of the project

The Travelodge motel was the only project in OC to get funding in the program’s third round.

Newsom visited Costa Mesa in January to tour another Homekey site and urge voters to support the upcoming ballot measure, Proposition 1. The March bond measure narrowly passed and will provide $2 billion in additional funding for Homekey.

American Family Housing, founded in 1985, now operates more than 60 supportive housing properties in Los Angeles and Orange counties, according to its website.

— Dana Bartholomew