Merced company applies to add homeless facility downtown

A local company has applied to refurbish a downtown motel to transform it into permanent supportive housing for people trying to get off the street.

The year-old Merced Community Development Corp. has begun working with Merced’s Development Services Department to get approval on a $6.5 million, 41-unit project called Esperanza, the Spanish word for hope.

CEO Daniel Kazakos said he’s been working on the plans for about 10 months. The former head of the Merced Main Street Association said he came up with the idea when he was leading the coalition of business owners.

“Pretty much everything is going to stay the same as far as the outside look and character,” he said.

The same is not true for the inside of the old California Best Motel at 205 E. 16th St. The plans would change 14 of the motel rooms into spaces for Hope Respite Care, a local program that gives homeless people a place to stay while they recover from being hospitalized.

Another 26 beds would be used for permanent supportive housing, a type of housing that homeless experts say gives people the best chance of successfully getting off the streets.

The former reception area would become a clinic, which would offer routine dental and health checkups. The pool and trees in the courtyard would make way for a new, roughly 4,200-square-foot common area with office space for visiting mental health service providers and others.

Kazakos, who has declared his intent to run for the City Council’s District 3, said his plans for the project preceded his run at elected office.

“This project is targeted for the whole city of Merced,” he said.

The city has 218 people living on the streets, according to a tally taken in January.

The Continuum of Care, a coalition of homeless advocates and service providers, has said it is moving toward a “housing first” method for helping the homeless, which is endorsed by the National Alliance to End Homelessness. The method puts a homeless person into permanent housing first and then addresses underlying problems that led to homelessness, such as mental health issues, drug addiction or chronic health problems, and employment.

Though the housing is considered permanent, advocates have said, service providers work to help the residents find jobs and more traditional housing of their own.

During the Homeless Summit in late February, continuum members said they are shooting to double the 47 permanent supportive housing units in the county this year, according to Carol Bowman, executive director of United Way of Merced County and a member of the continuum’s board of directors.

David Gonzalves, Merced development services director, said the project is in the early stages of the process. The developers will need to complete necessary environmental impact studies, as well as go before the city’s Planning Commission and City Council.

The panels would have to approve a change of use for the site and take public comment before approving the plans. Gonzalves said the project would be the first of its kind in Merced.

Assuming the plans are approved, the Merced Community Development Corp. would purchase the property for less than $1 million, Kazakos said. If it all goes according to plan, the face-lift to the site would begin in the fall and the facility would be open fall 2017.

This story was originally published March 30, 2016 at 5:18 PM with the headline "Merced company applies to add homeless facility downtown."