Council to consider redeveloping affordable housing for homeless
(Editor’s note: This story is part of an ongoing series that tracks the city’s expenditures appearing on upcoming Santa Monica City Council consent agendas. Consent agenda items are routinely passed by the City Council with little or no discussion from elected officials or the public. However, many of the items have been part of public discussion in the past.) CITY HALL Life near the beach is about to become more comfortable for Santa Monica’s homeless population.
The City Council tonight is expected to look at rehabilitating or a city-owned apartment building on Ocean Avenue, transforming it into affordable housing for low-income and long-term homeless individuals in Santa Monica.
Located off Colorado Avenue, the 55-year-old building was purchased in 1973 by City Hall to expand highway access to the Pacific Coast Highway, a project that eventually fell through.
OPCC’s Daybreak Center currently leases five units on the ground floor to provide emergency assistance and counseling services for mentally-ill homeless women. Seven of the 19 total units are occupied by residents while the remaining seven have been vacant for rehabilitation, according to city staff.
Several options were considered for the site including demolishing the existing structure and replacing it with a new building, and selling it to a private developer.
“There is an urgent need for permanent affordable supportive housing for very low-income Santa Monica homeless persons,” the staff report states.
There are an estimated 100 to 300 chronically homeless individuals on city streets on a given day, according to staff.
Part of the staff’s recommendation is to retain a housing provider to operate the building as permanent supportive housing and keep Daybreak as one of the tenants.
Since parts of the building’s systems have already been upgraded or replaced, the cost for rehabilitation is estimated to be between $600,000 and $800,000.
The council is also expected to pick up an option on its lease with the Ocean Park Restaurant Corporation (OPRC) for the use of a more than 50,000 square foot space at 2640 Main St., known as “Heritage Square.” The Santa Monica Farmers’ Market also operates at the site every Sunday.
The OPRC entered a 30-year lease with City Hall in 1978, an agreement that includes five, five year-options. The OPRC plans to exercise the first option starting May 15 and is asking that rather than increasing the rent percentage payment from 5 percent to 7 percent of gross receipts — as outlined in the original lease — that the amount be kept at 5 percent. If council approves the request, City Hall could stand to lose about $44,000 in rent. The rent percentage payment would be kept at 5 percent for as long as the farmers’ market also operates at the site.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 11, 2008. Read the original PDF.