California Awards Nine Homekey Projects to Create 533 New Permanent Supportive Homes

California Governor Gavin Newsom today announced $130.6 million in Homekey grant awards for nine new projects that will create 533 permanently supportive homes for Californians at risk of or experiencing homelessness. The new awards include developments focused on young people, individuals, and families who are experiencing homelessness.

"We are proud to stand with local partners who are serving their communities by providing much-needed housing to alleviate homelessness. We'll continue to support local governments who are doing the work to ensure everyone has a place to call home." said Governor Newsom.

Today's $130.6 million in grants through the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) will create new affordable housing in partnership with the cities of Merced, Richmond, San Francisco, and Sebastopol; the counties of Orange, Riverside, and San Mateo; and the housing authorities of the counties of Kern and Sacramento. Since the program's inception in 2020, Homekey has awarded $3.6 billion to support 259 projects that will include 15,850 homes, projecting to serve more than 172,000 California households over the life of the projects.

"Homekey continues to demonstrate California's steadfast commitment to working with local partners to expand our housing supply and build new homes for our most vulnerable neighbors," said Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency Secretary Tomiquia Moss. "Under this latest round of Homekey awards, our partnership with these nine communities will result in 533 permanently supportive homes, supporting Californians in communities across the state."

"Originally an emergency measure to help curb the spread of COVID-19 among unhoused Californians, Homekey has grown and evolved into a model for supporting our families and individuals in need of housing such as deserving veterans and others experiencing behavioral health challenges," said Gustavo Velasquez, Director of the California Department of Housing and Community Development. "Thanks to forward-thinking voters, HCD will get to play an even larger role in housing Californians who are struggling, and connecting them to the services they need to exit homelessness and maintain housing stability."

Homekey, administered by HCD, originated early in the COVID-19 pandemic as Project Roomkey, an emergency effort to quickly provide shelter to unhoused Californians in a non-congregate setting and curb the spread of illness among vulnerable populations. While early Homekey projects focused on hotel and motel conversions, projects awarded in the third round of Homekey have included a hospital conversion, new construction, and innovative modular construction approaches. The program goal remains to rapidly expand availability of affordable housing to help Californians exit or prevent homelessness.

As funding for the Homekey program winds down, HCD staff are gearing up to expand this highly successful model statewide under the new name, Homekey+, thanks to voter foresight in approving Proposition 1 to fund housing and wrap-around supportive services for veterans and other Californians who are at risk of, or experiencing homelessness or chronic homelessness, and also suffering from mental and behavioral health challenges. HCD, in partnership with CalVet, will release the Homekey+ Notice of Funding Availability before the end of 2024.

Below are the project specifics for the Homekey awards announced today:

• The Housing Authority of the County of Sacramento, in partnership with Danco Communities and Sacramento Madison Avenue LP, will receive $17,000,000 for the Madison Square Studios project, a hotel acquisition and rehabilitation that will create 118 permanent supportive homes for people exiting homelessness, in addition to a manager unit.
  
• The City of Merced, in partnership with CC915 Merced, Inc., will receive $11,150,000 for the Homekey CC915 Merced Phase 2 project, modular new construction that will create 57 permanent supportive homes for people exiting homelessness and chronic homelessness, in addition to one manager unit.
  
• The County of Orange, in partnership with American Family Housing, will receive $29,000,000 for the 1400 Bristol project, a motel acquisition and rehabilitation to create 76 permanent supportive homes for people exiting homelessness and chronic homelessness, and individuals at-risk of homelessness, in addition to two manager units.
  
• The City of Richmond, in partnership with 425 Civic Center LP and Trinity Center Walnut Creek, will receive $14,512,660 for the Civic Center Apartments, a hotel acquisition and rehabilitation project that will create 48 permanent supportive homes for people exiting homelessness, in addition to one manager unit.
  
• The County of Riverside, in partnership with Abode Communities, will receive $21,724,000 for the Desert Extended Stay project, a hotel acquisition and rehabilitation project to create 96 permanent supportive homes for individuals at-risk of homelessness, and exiting homelessness and chronic homelessness, in addition to one manager unit.
  
• The City and County of San Francisco will receive $8,225,095 for 42 Otis Street, a multifamily mixed-use acquisition project that will create 24 permanent supportive homes for youth who are exiting or at risk of homelessness.
  
• The County of San Mateo, in partnership with Episcopal Community Services of San Francisco and 721 Airport LLC, will receive $13,892,800 the 721 Airportproject, a hotel acquisition and rehabilitation that will create 45 permanent supportive homes for people exiting homelessness and chronic homelessness, in addition to one manager unit.
  
• Sebastopol, in partnership with Society of St. Vincent de Paul Sonoma County District Council, Inc., will receive $6,449,235 for Gravenstein Commons, a new construction project that will create 21 permanent supportive homes for people exiting homelessness, in addition to one manager unit.
  

For additional information on the Homekey program and a complete list of awards, please visit HCD's website.