Here is another example of why cities are running deficits. In Sacrament, like most California cities, Newsom is giving State tax dollars to buy up local, failing, seedy hotels—that pay property taxes. Now, Sacramento has decided to take another property tax paying hotel off the books—leaving the taxpayers on the hook to make up the lost revenues—while financing the creation of a slum.
“The former Capitol Park Hotel has reopened with a new purpose: It will now serve as permanent supportive housing for formerly homeless residents.
The stately white-bricked building at 9th and L streets is a block from the state Capitol. It includes two towers, one built in 1911 and the other in 1912, which together have served as everything from a women’s college to a single room occupancy hotel.
Most recently, it was used as an emergency homeless shelter.”
| Downtown Sacramento’s Capitol Park Hotel reopens as homeless housing, but at a high cost |
CapRadio, 1/19/24 https://mailchi.mp/capradio/recap-downtown-hotels-become-housing-but-at-a-high-cost?e=0e0b4b6258
| The former Capitol Park Hotel has reopened with a new purpose: It will now serve as permanent supportive housing for formerly homeless residents. The stately white-bricked building at 9th and L streets is a block from the state Capitol. It includes two towers, one built in 1911 and the other in 1912, which together have served as everything from a women’s college to a single room occupancy hotel. Most recently, it was used as an emergency homeless shelter. This week, it welcomes its first set of new residents, and my colleague Chris Nichols got a tour of the updated space. They’ll move into what will eventually be 134 studio apartments, each with a bathroom and kitchenette. They’ll be supported by a range of onsite staff providing case management, security and maintenance, said Rich Ciraulo, regional director with Mercy Housing, which led the restoration efforts. “One of the great things about this community is it’s housed in this amazingly historic beautiful building,” Ciraulo said during a tour this week, “but the real sort of magic happens in the staffing and the services that are provided to the residents that are coming here.” Transforming the building, which included seismic upgrades and a full reconstruction of the interior, hasn’t been cheap. Ciraulo placed the total development cost at “around $76 million,” all from government funding, including a $20 million contribution by the city of Sacramento. Altogether, that amounts to $567,000 per renovated apartment. Critics say the high cost of projects like Saint Clare — and the Sacramento Central Studios, a former Best Western — show the need for a new, market-driven approach. Sacramento developer John Vignocchi said his firm Urban Capital plans to build homeless shelter projects far below the per unit cost spent on Saint Clare, which he estimated at closer to $400,000 per unit when the cost of services is removed. “If you compare that same public subsidy to a solution like we’re proposing, at $100,000 a unit, you could help four times as many people,” Vignocchi said. Ciraulo says there’s no denying housing the formerly homeless is expensive. But between the support provided and building upgrades, he said Sacramento is investing in the long-term. |
