top of page

Charities Housing is proposing a low income/permanent homeless housing development on Blossom Hill Road in San Jose (formerly the site of the old Roller Rink, currently the ACO Furniture store).  The property is currently zoned for Neighborhood Commercial.

As of January 2018 Charities Housing closed on the ACO property.  Moving forward Charities Housing will be submitting plans to the city, and the city will hold public meetings regarding this development. As soon as we have information on meeting dates/times/location we will post on this page and on our "Upcoming Events" page. 

The current concept includes studios, 1 bedroom and 2 bedroom units, with 30,000 sq ft of commercial (which may include some support services for residents, as well as a possible Day Center for Memory Care).  The studios will house 1 to 2 adults (about 85% of the studios are expected to have an occupancy of 1 adult).

As of June 2018, this development is intended to target frail seniors (62 and over), who have difficulties living in their homes without services. Ten to twenty percent of the residents may beadults with disabilities who are under 62 years of age. An example of the under 62 adults who could be served in the community, might be those coming out of nursing homes with disabilities such as traumatic brain injury. The Residents will all be extremely low and very-low income.

Facts and Myths

SanJoseRHS recently posted a summary on Nextdoor of our tour of two Charities Housing sites.  In response to our post, there was much misinformation posted by people opposing the development.  We would like to use this opportunity to correct some of the misinformation. 

 

Responding to wrong information is not "shoving " anything down anyone's throat, it is correcting the bad information that is circulating. There is a great deal of misinformation on Charities Housing which is being posted online by those who oppose this development.  

 

We believe in affordable housing and that is why we are working on this issue. Additionally, we believe that if we work together on housing solutions we will find ways to solve the issues facing us. We also believe that the proposed development on BH by Charities Housing can be an asset to our community, especially if we take the time to be engaged with Charities Housing.

 

We all have our opinion/view, and we should express our views. We all will be impacted at some level by this development, we all have a right to be heard and to participate in the planning of this development.  What is unacceptable is to voice opposition using false information, and we want to set the record straight.

 

  • Members of the South San Jose community who support Charities Housing but do not live within 1000 feet of this proposed development are being told that they should not voice their opinions as they are not directly impacted enough.  However people who live much farther away and oppose this development are not being told that they live too far away to voice their opposition.  The truth is that our entire community has the right to participate and be heard.

 

  • There was a statement made that there are 9 registered sexual offenders at a Charities Housing community, Met North.  We checked two databases that list registered sexual offenders using the Met North address which is 2122 Monterey Road, San Jose, CA 95122. There are no registered sexual offenders living at 2122 Monterey Road. https://www.nsopw.gov/en-US/Search/Results https://www.meganslaw.ca.gov/Search.aspx#

 

  • Additionally, the crime stats that are being posted are not specific for Met North, they also include several other types of police response, like traffic stops (on Monterey). Those crime stats list "2000 block of Monterey," 2100 block of Monterey" and so on, they do not provide a true picture of what is going on at or inside Met North.
     

  • Several people continue to state that Charities Housing will be building "tiny homes" at the ACO location. That is not true.

 

  • Several posts stated that Charities Housing will allow 2 adults and children to live in their studio apartments. That is also not true.  They will allow up to 2 adults or 1 adult and child.  Eighty-five percent of their units are expected to be occupied by a single occupant.

 

  • Other posts stated that the number of units could substantially increase from 150 units.  This is not true.  Currently the proposal is for 130 - 150 units.

 

  • Posts stated that Charities Housing will be providing only one parking spot for 3 units. This is not true. The proposed number of spots is .68 per unit which works out to 2 spots for every 3 units. Further, Charities Housing will need to go through the planning department and is required to follow existing law regarding the number of parking spaces per unit.  Charities Housing has built over 1,000 units of low income housing. Their experience is that their residents do not all own cars (due to their financial situations). This means the traffic impact will be less than putting in a retail development or market rate housing development.

 

  • Posts stated that the 30,000 SQ FT of commercial will be solely for support services for residents, this is not true either. some of the space will be used for support services, however Charities Housing is actively looking for other businesses to lease the space as well.  Charities Housing even mentioned the possibility of having an Adult Day Care Center there for seniors who need memory care.

The truth is that Charities Housing wants their development to be successful, they do not want to fail. If residents do not follow the rules they will be evicted. People will need to pay rent and have some type of means to pay that rent and so on.   

 

We will all have the opportunity to see the plans for this development soon.  There will be a public process which will allow all of us to voice our opinions, concerns, support and opposition. 

 

Again, thank you to those who participated in the tour, and those who asked questions regarding Charities Housing. We encourage you to take the time to either drive by existing Charities Housing communities, or to arrange your own tours.

Here is information on Charities Housing (from their website):

"Charities Housing is committed to developing and managing affordable housing and strives to create developments that contribute positively to communities. Healthy communities start with people who care, who fulfill a vision, and who gladly perform meaningful services. That is what you will find in each and every affordable housing developed, owned, and managed by Charities Housing throughout Silicon Valley. We firmly believe our contributions are essential to the creation of healthy communities."

This proposed development is still in the concept stage, please click here for FAQ's on this project. 

Charities Housing Tour Photographs

January 21, 2018

Pensione Esperanza: 

598 Columbia Ave
San Jose, CA 95126

Pensione Esperanza is a 110 unit SRO (single room occupancy) near downtown

San Jose which was completed in 1999.

Met North

2122 Monterey Rd.

San Jose, CA 95112

 

Met North was the first phase of a two phase development. It consists of 70 affordable apartments and 1 manager’s unit in a four story elevator building

I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.

Stay tuned for more events! 

bottom of page