Silicon Valley Benevolent Offers Land: In a remarkable act of generosity, billionaire Silicon Valley developer John A. Sobrato has stepped forward to address the acute homelessness issue in South San Jose. He is offering an empty 2-acre plot of land, situated at Via del Oro and San Ignacio Avenue near Highway 85, for the construction of 75 tiny home shelters for homeless individuals. What’s even more remarkable is that Sobrato’s offer comes with an incredibly modest price tag for the city: a mere $1 per year for the next five years.
Sobrato’s proposal to lease this property is a direct response to San Jose’s pressing need for viable shelter sites as the city races to expand its homeless housing inventory. In a statement, John M. Sobrato, his son, expressed the family’s dedication to combatting homelessness in San Jose and the broader Bay Area. He emphasized the significance of these tiny homes in assisting one of the city’s most vulnerable populations.
The Sobrato Family Foundation has already shown its commitment to this cause by contributing $5 million to a homeless housing facility under construction at Branham Lane and Monterey Road in San Jose. Additionally, Sobrato donated another $5 million to support one of the largest homeless shelters in the Bay Area, which opened its doors in Redwood City this spring.
This philanthropic endeavor received unanimous approval from the San Jose City Council on Tuesday, as the city moves forward to lease the Via del Oro property. Mayor Matt Mahan expressed his hope that more property owners would follow Sobrato’s lead and consider offering vacant sites for shelter solutions, underscoring the importance of involving private property in the effort to alleviate street homelessness.
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The upcoming “quick-build” tiny home shelters, expected to accommodate approximately 150 residents rent-free for several months at a time, are slated for completion by the middle of the next year. These units will feature private bathrooms, allowing residents to live with their partners and even their pets.
The San Francisco nonprofit Dignity Moves will oversee the site, providing vital services such as case management, mental health counseling, and job training. The overarching goal is to assist residents in securing permanent housing.
After the five-year lease period, the city’s objective is to find a new location for the tiny homes, a process that may incur an additional cost of $6.5 million.
The addition of these tiny homes is pivotal in achieving Mayor Mahan’s ambitious goal of transitioning 1,000 homeless individuals from the streets into newly created shelter spaces by early next summer. The city’s latest count indicates that approximately 4,500 people are living outdoors across San Jose, reflecting an 11% decrease from the previous year. This decline can be attributed, in large part, to the hundreds of tiny homes and other “interim” housing sites with individual rooms that the city has introduced in recent years.
However, the perpetual challenge remains the severe shortage of affordable housing in the Bay Area, making it difficult to find permanent accommodations for shelter residents.
In 2022, approximately half of the roughly 900 individuals who stayed at San Jose’s interim housing units successfully transitioned into permanent homes, a notably higher rate compared to many group shelters without private rooms. Nevertheless, the results varied widely across different interim sites, as some had a maximum stay of six months, while others allowed residents to stay for a year or more, according to city reports.