West Sacramento is getting its first permanent supportive housing project for homeless
Construction for West Sacramento’s first permanent supportive housing project for homeless residents is set begin by the end of April.
The 85-unit project at 1801 W. Capitol Ave. is led by Mercy Housing, a nonprofit affordable housing developer that has built similar complexes in the Sacramento region.
The infill project recently passed one of its last hurtles before breaking ground — West Sacramento City Council approved the sale of the roughly 2-acre city-owned vacant lot to be used for the new housing during its meeting this week for $720,000.
The city had initially approached Mercy Housing about three years ago to create more housing for homeless residents, said Raul Huerta with the city’s Economic Development and Housing Department.
Homelessness continues to grow across the Sacramento region, including Yolo County, where the number of people sleeping in cars or shelters and on the streets rose about 43 percent in the last two years, according to the most recent census. In West Sacramento, there are at least 192 homeless people.
Mercy Housing – which specializes in low-income housing, often with “wrap-around” services built on-site – secured nearly $40 million in local, state and federal grant money and tax credits to fund the project, according to the city.
Similar homeless housing projects are in the process of being constructed or converted in the Sacramento region, like in Citrus Heights with a 47-unit apartment or in downtown Sacramento at the Capitol Park Hotel.
“We’re talking about anything from work readiness to training to substance abuse treatment, the types of services this type of population will likely need to be successful to stay out of homelessness,” Huerta said.
The housing complex in West Sacramento is made up of three buildings filled with studio and one-bedroom apartments surrounding a courtyard. Mercy Housing previously purchased an adjacent private property off Merkley Avenue on the same block for the complex.
Huerta said construction on the project would aim to be finished within 18 months, or by fall 2021.
This story was originally published March 6, 2020 at 5:00 AM.