Mayor Gloria's megashelter negotiations plod along
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
The site of the proposed homeless shelter in Middletown near the airport. Photo: Andy Keatts/Axios
Mayor Todd Gloria says his plan to open a 1,000-bed homeless shelter at a Middletown warehouse is on track, but that track is beginning to look pretty circuitous.
Why it matters: The shelter would become the largest in the city, but the cost of the long-term lease Gloria negotiated with the property's owner has been criticized by city officials and real estate professionals.
- That scrutiny follows years of bad real estate deals by San Diego leaders.
State of play: The City Council had its second closed-session hearing on the proposal Monday, after the first one led to new negotiations with Douglas Hamm, the property's owner.
- Voice of San Diego reported Tuesday that the renegotiated deal got a cool reception from the City Council, and directed staff to continue discussions.
- A council committee was set to discuss the lease in April, but that was canceled after the city's independent budget analyst signaled "significant questions."
- The council has since had two closed session meetings, and the committee chair Kent Lee told Voice he has no plans to reschedule.
By the numbers: Consultants working with Hamm told NBC 7 he agreed to lower the price per square foot and length of the lease, and to cover more of the cost of improvements to turn the warehouse into shelter.
- Voice reported Hamm is putting up $3.5 million of the $18 million in needed improvements, lowering the price per square foot from $2.45 to to $2.15 and trimming the deal from 35 years to 30.
- Yes, but: The new deal also changed the annual increase in rent from 3% to 4%, in exchange for those other changes.
The bottom line: After this week's council hearing, Gloria said in a news release he wasn't giving up on the project — but it's not clear where the proposal goes from here.
- "Negotiations surrounding such a large and ambitious proposal are complex," he said. "This cannot be accomplished overnight, but we are on track and I am fully committed to getting this done."