The Pacific Motor Inn in downtown San Jose was one of many Californian hotels used by Project Roomkey to shelter people during the pandemic. Then, in March of 2023, the 72-room hotel was acquired by PMI Ventures LLC – a collaboration between PATH Ventures and Westbank – in order to turn it into a mixed-income housing project.
In January, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, alongside PMI Ventures-LLC announced that over the next five years, a thousand units will be built on, or near, the site. Most of the units will be market-rate, but some will become affordable and permanent supportive housing. PATH Ventures will operate the permanent, supportive housing units, and Westbank will own and operate the market-rate units.
Mahan says this is the first time a mixed-income housing complex will be built in California. The city received $19 million in funding from Project Homekey, and is supplying $25 million of its own funds for redevelopment.
While construction on the site is being done, the hotel’s existing 72 rooms will be used as transitional housing for people experiencing homelessness.
It’s not the only hotel to housing conversion in San Jose. There’s the 90-room Arena Hotel, which filled up in September, and the 61-room Pavillion Inn, which is still under construction.
According to the 2023 Point-In-Time Count, there are more than 6,000 people experiencing homelessness in San Jose.
