Cabin village breaks ground in SLO. It will be CA’s largest 3D-printed community
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- San Luis Obispo broke ground on a 54-cabin homeless village after delays and debate.
- Project used 3D-printed units to reduce costs and speed up production timelines.
- Village will prioritize long-term unhoused residents using Housing First approach.
The long-awaited transitional tiny home village intended to help homeless individuals move from encampments into long-term housing has officially kicked off construction in San Luis Obispo.
Welcome Home Village, a 54-cabin transitional housing project located on the parking lot of Bishop Medical Center, held its groundbreaking with local leaders and nonprofit heads from across the county on Wednesday morning.
The groundbreaking marks the end of an approval process for the village that’s drawn mixed opinions from neighbors, with initial plans for the project introduced in April 2024.
District 3 Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg, who lives in the neighborhoods near the project, said she was proud to see the county get the project over the finish line despite funding issues and skepticism from neighbors.
“It’s been quite a ride, and I do hope that the governor will take note of this saga to develop a housing program like this in California,” Ortiz-Legg said. “We had the will, we had the funds, we had the staff, we had the professionals — what we lacked was just the ability to build it, and it’s one of the things that’s really critical that we’ve learned about trying to address our housing issues.”
Scaled-down project to use 3D-printed homes
Though the board previously voted 3-1 to approve the Welcome Home Village project in May 2024, it was forced to reconsider the project’s scope due to financial issues related to the project’s size.
Originally approved as an 80-unit cabin-style village for homeless individuals on the San Luis Obispo County Health Agency parking lot on Johnson Avenue, the new plan cut the project down to a total of 54 cabins.
The project went through several changes in its initial proposals, switching locations from the Department of Social Services lot at the corner of South Higuera Street and Prado Road to its current location near the corner of Johnson Avenue and Bishop Street.
Neighbors of the project’s current site largely opposed the project, expressing their opposition at a May 2 community meeting on the project and the its original May 22 Board of Supervisors hearing. Many of the neighbors’ concerns were focused on safety and the effect the project’s population would have on nearby parking.
Some nearby medical professionals who work at the Bishop Medical Center opposed the project due to its proximity to their offices and clients, though county officials from the Department of Social Services have highlighted the location for its access to medical services and public transit.
Billed as a missing link between unsheltered homelessness and getting homeless individuals reintegrated into housing, the $13.4 million village was supposed to start construction in the fall of 2024.
Cabins are broken down between interim beds intended to stabilize clients over a 90-day period and permanent supportive beds that are for long-term clients.
In its final form, the Welcome Home Village’s 34 interim and 46 permanent beds have been reduced to 14 interim and 40 permanent beds, nearly halving the project’s footprint along Bishop Street, according to the staff report.
Ross Maguire, CEO of home production company Azure Printed Homes, said the village will the largest 3D-printed community in California, cutting down on the amount of manpower needed to get a cabin ready for habitation.
The Gardena-based company will fabricate each unit at its Los Angeles-area factory, turning out a unit in around three weeks from printer to installing the finishings, Maguire said.
Those structures will then be shipped up to San Luis Obispo and installed on a set of 12 ground screws that will be sunk into the parking lot — a cost-saving measure that will allow the village to forego completely tearing out and regrading the lot, Maguire said.
In total, Azure will fabricate 63 modules between cabins and community facilities, with all modules expected to be completed over a 12-week period, Maguire said.
“I was lucky enough to be involved in this project from around November, when the development of it was in a state of flux — the funding kind of talk of like, ‘Oh, we’ve got a huge expense of having to grade this parking lot and level it out, and then bring foundations and everything else in,’” Maguire said. “My approach was, ‘Let’s not level it, let’s build above it.’”
When will Welcome Home Village be up and running?
Maguire said he expects the units to be on site and installed in the spring of next year barring any delays.
During the fabrication process, San Luis Obispo Community Action Team and Mobile Crisis Unit teams will make contact with individuals who have lived in encampments the longest, city homelessness response manager Daisy Wiberg said.
People who have endured homelessness the longest at locations such as the Bob Jones Trail will be prioritized, with more spots opening as individuals move through the program and are matched with longer-term supportive housing, Wiberg said.
San Luis Obispo Mayor Erica Stewart said the village will embody the “Housing First” model that prioritizes housing over all other factors in helping a person get off the street.
Stewart added that the city has determined that prioritizing homelessness response resources like the village are just as important as adding housing stock, if not more.
“This is not just a construction site, this is a site that is filled with future and hope and stability for those who have been experiencing instability for many years,” Stewart said. “This is a collaborative process — this is what the community does together when we are trying to make change.”
