State awards $10.7M to convert Motel 6 in Costa Mesa into permanent supportive housing
An effort to transition a Motel 6 on Costa Mesa’s Newport Boulevard into permanent supportive housing for homeless and at-risk individuals got the green light Wednesday, when the state awarded $10.675 million in Project Homekey funding toward the project.
City leaders announced the award from the Department of Housing and Community Development to rebuild 40 of the motel’s 88 units into living spaces for people experiencing homelessness, including veterans and those eligible under the Mental Health Services Act. The remaining 48 units will become affordable housing for individuals aged 62 and older.
Newport Beach’s Community Development Partners is leading the rehabilitation, while the local nonprofit Mercy House — which currently operates the city’s bridge shelter — will provide on-site services to residents.
Costa Mesa Assistant City Manager Susan Price said the state funding was a crucial piece of a multiagency collaboration that included a $2-million commitment of local matching funds from the city and from the county, which acted as the lead agency in the application process.
“All the stars have to align for this to be a success, and we’re lucky that happened,” Price said Thursday.
The Motel 6, located at 2274 Newport Blvd., was identified as one of two properties with owners willing to sell and service providers and developers lined up. Mesa Motel on Harbor Boulevard was also heading down the Homekey pathway but missed the deadline for this funding cycle.
Price said several older motels can no longer compete in the marketplace and, as such, serve clients who may constitute a public nuisance. She earlier cited figures showing police and fire unit responses to city motels increased 70% between 2019 and 2021, while the number of police reports filed increased 91%.
Converting short-term occupancy sites into permanent housing, she added, could help reverse that trend.
“It’s not a shelter, it’s not interim housing — it’s really just an affordable housing apartment building,” Price said. “We can stabilize our community by providing housing at all income levels, so people don’t have to reside in motels.”
Now that the state funding has been secured for the Motel 6 project, developers will have less than one year to complete construction and get the site move-in ready.
Costa Mesa Mayor Pro Tem Andrea Marr, speaking in a statement Wednesday, thanked county officials for their leadership and said the transition will help the city create diverse housing options for more residents.
“Providing a full range of housing opportunities is a priority for our city,” Marr said. “Project Homekey will allow us to serve Costa Mesans in great need of housing.”
City officials dedicate $3.5 million to help acquire, rehabilitate and convert two motels into permanent supportive housing complexes for at-risk and homeless individuals.
Orange County Supervisor and former Costa Mesa Mayor Katrina Foley said Wednesday city officials had worked for years to address the blight and crime that historically plagued the city’s motels before Homekey came along.
“When the residents of Costa Mesa elected me to the Board of Supervisors last year, I got to work right away to address what we could do to secure funding from the state of California,” she said in a statement. “This is just one of several conversions that will be announced in the future.”
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