San Diego Proposal Could Cost $400k a Room to House Homeless

San Diego residents are fighting a new proposal by the city's public housing agency that would create 475 permanent rooms for homeless people at a cost of close to $400,000 per room, the San Diego Tribune reported.

As the city's downtown homeless population soars to an estimated 2,000, the San Diego Housing Commission petitioned for government assistance to purchase four hotels in the area, ranging in price from nearly $12 million to over $65 million.

But critics suggested the city should look into more affordable alternatives, such as shipping containers, which cost between $64,000 and $128,000. Tiny homes, meanwhile, cost just $40,000 each, according to the Tribune's estimates.

The commission argued that hotels would integrate easily into its current housing system and said the hotel deals remain much cheaper than building new constructions from scratch.

"There's no way we could reproduce this type of product from a new development perspective at a lower cost or with a quicker time frame," Buddy Bohrer, the Commission's vice president of real estate finance and acquisitions, told the Tribune.

Los Angeles has also used state funding to purchase hotels and motels for its growing homeless population, which numbered nearly 42,000 in 2022, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.