The state has awarded the City of Oakland $11.1 million to buy a hotel near the Coliseum to house homeless residents.
The Project Homekey grant will allow the city to convert the hotel into long-term housing for a project it calls The Inn at Coliseum, the San Jose Mercury News reported.
While the state did not name the hotel, a 34-room Inn by the Coliseum at 4801 Coliseum Way is currently being used in the Project Roomkey program of Alameda County. The establishment offers rooms for homeless residents who have contracted or been exposed to Covid-19.
The Oakland project that proposes to acquire an establishment near the Coliseum with the state money will serve homeless residents with incomes who can pay a subsidized monthly rent. It will target residents making 30 percent of the median income for the area, or $30,000 a year for a single adult in Alameda County.
Residents will have case managers who can direct them to health care, schools, job opportunities and more.
The governor’s office awarded $846 million in Project Homekey grants in 2020. Last year, the governor announced another $2.75 billion through 2023. This month, he proposed adding an additional $150 million.
If the addition is approved by the legislature, $1.5 billion will be available in Homekey grants next year.
To date, the initiative has funded 10,000 new housing units for unhoused residents.
Last week, San Jose won $25.2 million to convert the 90-room Arena Hotel downtown into housing for homeless residents.
Last month, Berkeley was awarded $16.2 million to convert the Golden Bear Hotel into 44 permanent homes for unhoused residents.
In March, Oakland received $14.8 million to buy and turn the Piedmont Place hotel into 44 studio apartments and one two-bedroom unit for unhoused residents, including those with medical conditions.
Newsom’s office this week also announced a $4.5 million grant for a 16-unit Mammoth Lakes homeless housing project.
“Homekey’s success over the past two years has proven that homelessness is a solvable issue,” Newsom said in a news release. “We’re proposing to double down on our efforts by bolstering Homekey with an additional $150 million to create more life-saving projects like the ones announced today in Oakland and Mammoth Lakes.”
[San Jose Mercury News] – Dana Bartholomew
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