SLO, nonprofit want to convert Motel 6 to affordable housing. Here’s how it would work
A San Luis Obispo motel could be converted into affordable housing within the next year— provided the state government approves $18 million in funding.
The city of San Luis Obispo and nonprofit affordable housing developer People’s Self-Help Housing hope to use money from the California Department of Housing and Community Development’s Project Homekey program to transform the Motel 6 North, located at 1433 Calle Joaquin, into 75 affordable housing units, according to People’s Self-Help Housing CEO Ken Triguiero said.
The San Luis Obispo City Council first discussed applying for the state funds along with People’s Self-Help Housing in April.
On Monday, the council unanimously approved a resolution authorizing the the application at a special meeting.
People’s Self-Help Housing is set to submit the application by the July 28 application deadline, Triguiero said.
The final round of Project Homekey grant recipients will be announced this fall.
Converting a Motel 6 into affordable housing is “quicker than the normal process that takes years and years and years,” Triguiero said. “Money and not much time are usually our biggest obstacles, so this addresses both of those constraints normally.”
Here’s what to expect from the potential development.
Converting SLO motel could help homeless families, youth
The city and People’s Self Help Housing are seeking funding from a pool of $736 million in Project Homekey grants, which are intended to rehabilitate or lease buildings to individuals and families experiencing or at risk of falling into homelessness, according to Project Homekey’s website.
The People’s Self-Help Housing project is not the first nonprofit to apply for Project Homekey funding in San Luis Obispo County.
In 2021, the El Camino Homeless Organization, Housing Authority of San Luis Obispo County and People’s Self-Help Housing used $14 million in Project Homekey funding to convert a Motel 6 on Riverside Avenue in Paso Robles into 60 units of affordable housing.
Triguiero said the San Luis Obispo Motel 6 project would primarily serve families as well as youth ages 18 to 24 — two populations that have shown a recent increase in requests for housing assistance.
Five units would be set aside for families, while 30 studio apartments would be designated for homeless or at-risk youth, San Luis Obispo housing policy and programs manager Teresa McClish said during Monday’s City Council meeting.
Another 20 studios would be reserved for chronically homeless individuals, and 20 studios would be set aside for formerly homeless individuals, McClish said.
“Even if you’ve got close to it is needed. Not enough units are available,” Triguiero said. “The floor keeps rising, and people’s incomes are getting not rising enough.”
Like tenants at most People’s Self-Help Housing projects, tenants at the converted San Luis Obispo motel would pay rent not exceeding 30% of their monthly income, Triguiero said.
Before it can be used as a permanent supportive housing facility, the motel would need some retrofitting, Triguiero said, such as bringing the units up to code and expanding some rooms to accommodate families.
However, because the core structure is already in place, renovations would likely be complete by the end of 2024, Triguiero said.
Trigueiro said the facility would need a support staff, case managers and an on-property manager.
If the city and People’s Self-Help Housing receive Project HomeKey funding, that means “the state is really wanting this program to be executed pretty quickly,” Triguiero said, “so we would be able to close on the purchase of of the property before the end of this year.”
Proposed affordable housing project could get other funding
People’s Self-Help Housing’s application for $13.3 million in Project Homekey funding will be supplemented by several other sources of funding.
As part of Monday’s resolution, the city of San Luis Obispo will allocate $400,000 of matching affordable housing funds for the project, McClish said.
If the grant application is approved, San Luis Obispo County will commit $2.6 million in capital and operational funding to the project, McClish said
The Balay Ko Foundation, a Los Angeles-based private donor, will also provide $800,000 in gap funding for the project, McClish said.
Project-based vouchers — which keep units affordable long-term — will be provided for the project by HASLO, McClish said.
“We’re fairly confident that we’ll be able to get the money that we need,” Triguiero said at Monday’s meeting. “We’ll have a short-term plan and a long-term plan to go after sources that we really want to use to take care of additional needs and wishlist (items) after that.”
This story was originally published July 27, 2023 at 4:27 PM.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story included the wrong address and photos for the Motel 6 that will be converted to affordable housing. It’s the Motel 6 North at 1433 Calle Joaquin in San Luis Obispo.
