By Robert Haugh

There’s a special Santa Clara City Council meeting tonight on a highly controversial 30-unit interim housing development on County-owned property at Lawrence Expressway and Benton Street.

The County of Santa Clara and LifeMoves are proposing a Project HomeKey development.  

For more information, visit the County’s webpage. 

The County has held four community meetings regarding the project. County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg has not made a public comment yet. But according to her staff, will do so tonight.

The City held three study sessions in 2021.

In 2020, the California State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) announced the release of the Project HomeKey Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for $600 million.

The program’s purpose was to expand and diversify housing options for homeless persons at high-risk for serious illness and impacted by COVID-19. 

Project HomeKey funds are for the purchase and rehabilitation of housing, including hotels, motels, vacant apartment buildings, and other buildings, and convert them into interim or permanent, long-term housing.