Petaluma eyes northside hotel for homeless housing, services

A hotel on Petaluma’s northern edge could serve dozens of homeless residents by the end of the year, as city leaders close in on a location and price tag for the latest local effort to serve the region’s homeless population.

City leaders have partnered with the nonprofit affordable housing developer Burbank Housing to seek $13.8 million in state grant funding to buy America’s Best Value Inn, 5135 Montero Way. Plans call for Petaluma and Sonoma County to split a $1.5 million local match for the purchase, and for Burbank to manage the property, which sits along the east side of Highway 101 on Petaluma’s north side.

If state housing officials approve the plan – as soon as this week – the 60-room hotel would be transformed into The Studios at Montero. And city leaders say it would be another step toward crafting regional solutions to regional problems.

“We’re doing some amazing work in Petaluma, but we’re also part of a regional solution,” said Petaluma Housing Manager Karen Shimizu, adding that the county’s homelessness problem doesn’t recognize city boundaries.

The Studios at Montero would be the largest among a growing list of hotels serving Sonoma County’s chronically homeless population with food, shelter, health services and more.

The trend, funded primarily through California’s Project Homekey grant program, has already made its way to downtown Santa Rosa and Sebastopol, where two sites serve more than 70 residents. After a $2.75 billion expansion of the state program, announced in September 2021, new proposals in Santa Rosa, Healdsburg, Rohnert Park, Petaluma and the Sonoma Valley could push the number of residents served locally to more than 300.

The proposed investment within Sonoma County’s second-largest city comes four months after Petaluma City Council members directed staff to seek state funding for a hotel site. But city officials had been working with Burbank Housing leaders since late last summer, said Rich Wallach, senior director of housing finance and business development for Burbank.

Wallach said his agency scoured the city for sites, but settled on the northside Petaluma hotel due to its size and ownership’s willingness to sell.

“We looked at everything,” Wallach said in a Wednesday afternoon phone interview. “Nothing was available. Nothing was on the market. What we really wanted to do was acquire a property that was not too large and not too small.”

Because the deal is not yet complete, owner Peter Codding declined to comment.

Along with applying for the state grant, Petaluma’s primary role will be to ensure that the city’s roughly 100 chronically homeless residents are registered with the county’s coordinated entry system, allowing them to qualify for a room at The Studios at Montero, Shimizu said.

The multi-pronged partnership precludes preferential treatment for homeless residents currently living in Petaluma, and with multiple bus lines serving the property, the hotel site adjacent to Highway 101 could be appealing to residents from various parts of the county, officials acknowledged.

Petaluma Mayor Teresa Barrett praised the project as another prong in the city’s ongoing effort to combat rising local homelessness. Although the site is miles from Petaluma’s downtown, Barrett said plans for wraparound services would meet nearly all of the residents’ needs.

“I’m really hoping we are successful and will have another way of addressing this issue,” Barrett said.

Petaluma City Council member Dennis Pocekay said he would have preferred a site closer to the city’s downtown core, which houses a variety of homelessness services. But he said the chosen location will be close to bus lines and will have support staff on site.

“And we need more housing for our very low income and recently homeless folks, so I think that overrides the idea,” said Pocekay, who is also Petaluma’s representative to the county’s Continuum of Care.

City leaders, including Pocekay, have praised recent, collaborative efforts to address the region’s homelessness problems.

Petaluma this week unveiled the People’s Village, a 25-unit, tiny home community adjacent to the Committee on the Shelterless’ Mary Isaak Center near downtown Petaluma. And the City Council has expanded funding for COTS, the Downtown Streets Team and other services meant to combat homelessness.

The Studios at Montero could be ready to serve residents by the end of the year. And, regardless of its location, Pocekay said “We need to find a way to make it work.”

Tyler Silvy is editor of the Petaluma Argus-Courier. Reach him at tyler.silvy@arguscourier.com, 707-776-8458, or @tylersilvy on Twitter.