- Empty lot will be developed with 30 units to house homeless individuals.
- The site is next to the former La Quinta Inn on Valentine Road.
- A $9.8 million state grant will help fund the project.
A 26,000-square-foot vacant lot next to the former La Quinta Inn in Ventura will be acquired for a project to house residents of river bottom encampments now that the City Council has accepted a state grant.
The empty lot on Pasteur Drive will be the site of a permanent supportive housing project with 30 one-bedroom apartments, said Leona Rollins, housing services manager for Ventura, in an email. The lot is next to the former inn at 5818 Valentine Road, located east of Victoria Avenue near the southbound side of Highway 101.
More details about the project were revealed April 22 when council members approved an agreement with the California Department of Housing and Community Development for $9.81 million from the Encampment Resolution Funding Program. The bulk of the money will help with Housing Authority of the City of San Buenaventura projects.
In addition to the Pasteur Drive project, the funds will provide 15 units in the former La Quinta Inn for residents of homeless encampments in the Santa Clara River bottom, according to the staff report. Together, the adjacent sites will comprise 45 units targeted for that segment of the homeless population living in the river bottom.
"Between these two properties 45 chronically homeless residents of encampments in the City of Ventura will beconnected to permanent housing," the report reads.
The former La Quinta Inn is now called the Valentine Road Apartments. The inn is transitioning from a 142-room hotel into permanent supportive housing. The housing authority project will provide 134 studio units in all for homeless individuals.
The state grant process was competitive and getting it was a "big win" for the city, said Jeff Lambert, CEO of the housing authority, at the meeting.
The first phase of the Valentine Road project, to transform the existing hotel rooms, is close to being completed with 64 renovated units expected to be ready in early May, he said.
The authority will coordinate with the Ventura County Continuum of Care to prioritize housing people who have been living in the river bottom, said Rollins, the housing services manager.
The Pasteur Drive project will offer case management, service coordination and other support. The estimated cost for the development is $23.6 million, although the number could increase with costs of construction and materials, she said.
The city's contributions to the project will allow the housing authority to leverage additional funding to complete it, the staff report notes.
Some $730,000 of the grant funds will help with a temporary shelter project. By June, the city plans to issue a request for proposals for that portion, said Rachel Dimond, the city’s community development director, during the meeting.
The city has started working with people in the river bottom through its patrol task force and a county social worker to talk about the potential housing availability, Dimond said.
"It is exactly what we needed to get people out of that situation that they're in," said Councilmember Jim Duran.
Wes Woods II covers West Countyfor the Ventura County Star. Reach himatwesley.woodsii@vcstar.com, 805-437-0262 or@JournoWes.
