$130 million in Project Homekey grants awarded to build homes in nine counties

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday that $130.6 million in new grant funding will build 533 permanent supportive homes across nine counties under Project Homekey .

The funds will be distributed to projects in Sacramento, San Francisco, Merced, Orange, Riverside, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Sonoma, and Kern counties, according to the governor's office.

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

Where will the new homes be built?

The announced recipients of the grants were:

• 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. This hotel acquisition and rehabilitation will create 118 permanent supportive homes for people exiting homelessness and 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 project to create 76 permanent supportive homes for people exiting homelessness, 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 to create 24 permanent supportive homes for youth 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 for 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 and one manager unit.

What is Project Homekey?

The program and funds are administered by the California Department of Housing and Community Development.

It was born from Project Roomkey, established to get people off the streets and into temporary housing amid the pandemic, according to HCD Director Gustavo Velasquez said.

"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,," he said. "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.”

Following the passage of Prop.1, the program will be expanded into what officials have designated Homekey+, according to Newsom's office. Details of the new plan were expected to be released before the end of the year.

Since its beginning, Project Homekey has awarded roughly $3.6 billion in funding to support 259 projects, state officials said. These projects included 15,850 homes.

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: $130 million in Project Homekey grants awarded to build homes in nine counties