Ageing hotel to be converted into permanent supportive housing
LOS ANGELES: The trend to convert ageing hotels and motels into permanent supportive care housing is now galloping.
The former Golden Bear Hotel on San Pablo Avenue and Cedar Street has been converted into permanent supportive housing, with 43 units leased to individuals exiting homelessness.
The project, provided by Bay Area Community Services, or BACS, is funded by the city of Berkeley as its Homekey sponsor and provides housing to those who have experienced chronic homelessness and a disabling condition, according to Jonathan Russel, chief strategy and impact officer at BACS.
“Hotel conversion projects like Golden Bear Homes allow us to bring permanent supportive housing online much more quickly and affordably than new construction,” said Berkeley City Councilmember Rigel Robinson in an email.
The Golden Bear Homes project took five months of renovation to complete. Funding was awarded in April 2022, the property closed August 2022 and leasing began in December 2022 and individuals moved in, Russel noted.
According to Russel, housing conversion projects such as the Golden Bear Homes take less time than totally new construction. In addition, conversion costs less than half of ground-up construction. Renovations were quick, mostly consisting of bathroom conversions, changes of flooring and modifications for ADA compliance such as accessible ramps and other structures.
“Non-congregate shelter options, where residents will have true privacy and room for their possessions, are a game-changer in the homeless services landscape,” Robinson said in an email. “Being able to provide someone a bedroom of their own can be transformative in someone’s journey to getting back on their feet.”
Supportive services are provided on site for residents, Russel noted. There are no mandatory requirements for residents or obligations to use these services, but they include support for residents with linkage to other external services.
Russel added that the residents are very appreciative of their homes. He shared an example of one resident who had experienced homelessness for 20 years and is loving their unit.
To address the housing crisis, Russel noted the value in adopting an “everything, everywhere, all at once” type of approach which includes conversion projects, single acquisition home models and ground-up construction projects, without focusing on one type of housing.
“This model, specifically, converting existing hotels into apartments … is nothing less than transformative for our ability to create not just affordable housing but deeply affordable housing to people with extremely low income in the Bay Area.” Russel said.
As of now, there are no plans for expansion and BACS’ project is complete with the conversion, according to Russel. There may be future development down the road near the area that would be fresh construction, Russel noted. He added that there are other projects that the city of Berkeley is looking to the next round of Homekey to support.