Mountain View: Construction underway on 49-unit homeless housing project

Construction is underway on a new supportive housing project in Mountain View set to provide dozens of local homeless people with a permanent roof over their heads.

Future residents, including unhoused youth aging out of the foster care system, will have private apartments with kitchenettes and bathrooms, as well as access to on-site case management and life skills counseling. They will contribute 30% of their income toward rent and receive housing vouchers to cover the rest.

Work on the 49-unit facility started last month at the site of the former Crestview Motel at 901 East El Camino Real. It’s expected to open next summer.

“Converting the Crestview Hotel into permanent affordable housing for at-risk families and youth demonstrates Mountain View’s commitment to addressing the housing crisis,” Mayor Alison Hicks said in a statement.

Including buying the property, the project is anticipated to cost about $40.5 million. That comes to around $827,000 per unit, a figure that developers say is in line with the cost of building affordable housing in the extremely expensive Bay Area.

Almost $17 million of that price tag is being covered by California’s multibillion-dollar Homekey program, which since launching during the pandemic has helped create at least 12,000 homeless housing and shelter units across the state. Santa Clara County pitched in another nearly $15 million in local, state and federal funds. Mountain View also contributed more than $9 million in federal grant money.

The Irvine-based nonprofit Jamboree Housing Corporation is developing the project. Officials said the developer will work closely with the city and county to operate the facility and provide residents services.

“This is too big a challenge for any community to address alone,” Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian said in a statement. “Nonprofit partners are essential to making sure everyone has a safe place to lay their head at night.”