Chula Vista officials held a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday for Palomar Point, a permanent supportive housing project that will convert a former motel into 27 units for people experiencing homelessness. The city acquired the former Palomar Motel at 1160 Walnut Ave. in October 2023 and selected Wake land Housing and Development Corp. to renovate and operate the property. The project was funded primarily through California’s Homekey+ grant program. “Chula Vista has been a regional leader in getting homeless off the streets,” Mayor John McCann said following the groundbreaking ceremony. “And this is the next phase of being able to put in permanent supportive housing with the Palomar Point Project.” The project includes 27 units for individuals experiencing homelessness — seven reserved for veterans through the VA Supportive Housing Program and 20 with project-based vouchers — plus one manager’s unit. Wakeland will provide a case manager and activities coordinator, with services tailored to individual needs on a voluntary basis. The former motel had seen little renovation since it was built. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune) The nonprofit developer has a 96% housing retention rate and 96% participation rate for services across its permanent supportive housing portfolio, according to Carlos Rodriguez, management analyst for the Housing and Homeless Services Department. Wakeland has completed several previous affordable housing projects in Chula Vista, including Los Vecinos on Broadway. Renovation work includes converting rooms into studios with kitchenettes, new flooring, updated fixtures, a new roof, upgraded plumbing and electrical systems, fire sprinklers and accessibility improvements. The project will serve as a pilot for the city’s Project Labor Agreement ordinance, with most construction performed by union workers. The project costs $11.4 million, with much of the funding coming from the state’s Homekey+ Program at $8.61 million. The city invested $3 million into the project. “We want to make sure that when we’re putting together a project like this, that we know it can be fully funded and isn’t drawing from the city’s general fund, and that we can make sure that it becomes sustainable in the future,” McCann said. The property, built in 1964, has had minimal upgrades since construction and requires substantial rehabilitation, according to Rodriguez. McCann described the project as the next phase of the city’s comprehensive homeless strategy, which includes a homeless outreach team, the Chula Vista at Otay — a bridge shelter with 65 “mini homes” — and one of the strictest homeless encampment bans in the county. The Otay bridge shelter, which opened in 2023 and is operated by nonprofit City Net, has graduated over 100 people into permanent housing. The shelter operates near capacity, with residents typically staying three to six months while receiving wraparound services including documentation assistance, employment support and housing placement. Rehabilitation for Palomar Point is expected to be completed by November, with full occupancy by February 2027. “The philosophy is to get long-term solutions for homeless people to get off the streets and to get them into a path of permanent housing,” McCann said. “We don’t want to just allow people to find a place for a day or a week. We want to make sure that they have long-term solutions with real change.” ...read more read less