The site of a historic market will soon be home to a housing project for chronically homeless seniors in the area.
The 93-unit affordable housing project, called Villas at Fourth Street, had its groundbreaking on Monday at the former Dick’s Supermarket, just north of Japantown, San Jose Spotlight reported.
Housing nonprofit People Assisting the Homeless (PATH) will manage the project and promises to incorporate some of the market’s original design elements into the new project.
There are more than 2,500 homes planned for the area using funds from Measure A, which is a bond from 2016 that provides $950 million for affordable housing projects.
Housing Trust Silicon Valley, Destination: Home, National Equity Fund, Bank of America and Apple are also contributing to the project.
Referrals for the affordable senior housing will come through the county and PATH’s assessment system.
The complex will feature a community garden, common room, teaching kitchen, tech lab, rooftop terrace and more. There will also be onsite case management, substance-use treatment, mental health care and life skills education.
The city of San Jose has a plan to increase affordable housing by 10,000 homes by 2023. The city has built just over 500 affordable homes since 2018, which is very short of the current goal.
“We have a lot of hurdles that are just natural hurdles through the planning process and it’s not just at the city level. Some of that is through funding,” Councilmember Raul Peralez, whose district includes Villas at Fourth Street, said in the article. “That’s where it’s really important that we’re working in coordination so that way we do get these projects moving through and not getting delayed.”
PATH plans for the senior housing project to open late next year.
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[San Jose Spotlight] — Victoria Pruitt