San Jose: 93-unit affordable complex opens for formerly homeless seniors

The project at 1030 North Fourth St. offers residents mental health care and drug treatment.

A new affordable housing complex for 93 formerly homeless seniors is now open north of downtown San Jose.

In addition to private apartments, the project at 1030 North Fourth St. offers residents supportive services such as mental health care and drug treatment. It cost at least $55 million to build and was funded mainly with public subsidies, including $15 million from Santa Clara County.

“Every new development that opens its doors means we are getting more community members into a unit, and for some, this is the first home they have had in a long time,” Consuelo Hernandez, director of the county’s office of supportive housing, said in a statement.

Santa Clara County had an estimated 9,903 homeless residents in 2023, a 1% dip from the year before. A hundred were 65 or older.

The county money for the project came from Measure A, a $950 million affordable housing bond approved by voters in 2016. As of last year, the bond, funded by property taxes, had supported around 4,000 units and appeared on track to meet its goal of helping build or preserve roughly 4,800 affordable homes by 2026.

PATH, the California nonprofit developer behind the development, also plans to convert the former Pacific Motor Inn motel in downtown San Jose into 72 supportive housing units for homeless people. The development at 455 South Second St. is being funded by $19 million from the state’s Homekey homeless housing program and $25 million from San Jose’s Measure E transfer tax fund.

PATH aims to also develop a mid-rise apartment building with 140 affordable units at the property, and mega-developer Westbank plans to build a high-rise apartment tower with 300 market-rate units at the same site.

Construction on the motel conversion is set to start immediately and begin accepting homeless residents within six months. The other buildings are expected to break ground in about three years.

Last week, the state announced it is awarding $20.3 million to Oakland to buy and convert the Quality Inn motel at 8471 Enterprise Way into 104 supportive housing units.

The money was part of the latest round of funding from the state’s Homeky program, which has now funded the creation of more than 15,000 shelter and housing units since launching in 2020.