By Dana Williams and Eric Page /7SanDiego / November 18, 2024
A completely renovated apartment building called the Shores at North Beach, just steps from the sand at Ocean Beach, opened in mid-November, featuring 13 newly refurbished units for people experiencing homelessness.
The $6,830,005 project is being funded in part through the California’s Homekey organization, a “statewide effort to sustain and rapidly expand housing for persons experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness.”
Each unit has gotten a coat of paint and new electrical, and features an efficiency kitchen and new bathroom fixtures. They also each come with a couch, table, lamp, a few kitchen items, laundry items, bath towels and toiletries, as well as a bed with bedding and two nightstands. As for outside, the courtyard has landscaping and more new paint, and there is new concrete and striping out by the parking, along with a brand new security gate facing the street.
On Monday, the building welcomed new tenants, and their furry companions, with fresh coffee, warm food and a box of groceries at each front door. Among the group moving into the 13 units was Arthur Bowen, who preferred to be called Art, and his two pitbull-husky mixes, Milo and Charlie.
“I love San Diego,” Bowen said. “It’s beautiful, you know?”
Bowen told NBC 7 that he was born and raised in Washington state but, like many others, found himself unhoused after battling with grief.
“I lost my partner and it was cold, and I was living in Olympia, Washington, at the time,” Bowen recalled. “She passed and I was out in the tent, and in the middle of October my tent frosted over and I said, ‘enough is enough.’ ”
So, Bowen packed his bags and headed to sunny San Diego, where he has been for 10 years. The majority of that time was spent in the riverbed of the San Diego River, living on what has been referred to as “the island.” He told NBC 7 he took pride in where he lived and considered it his home until the city of San Diego began to clear it out in early November.
Crews were out on Tuesday morning clearing homeless encampments, including 40 tons of trash from the San Diego Riverbed, NBC 7’s Audra Stafford reports.
“I cared a lot about the island, you know?” Bowen said. “I’m an island boy.”
Bowen and some of the others who were displaced from the riverbed were placed in temporary housing at a hotel with the help of People Assisting the Homeless (PATH) San Diego. Then came Bowen’s move to the Shores at North Beach.
Kendall Burdett, an outreach specialist for PATH San Diego who has been working with Bowen, said it has been emotional to see him finally be placed in a new, safe home.
“It works” Burdett told NBC 7. “This person now has hope. People stop, they think they don’t have reason to hope anymore and that sounds corny, but it’s not.”
Burdett shared that other tenants have been placed in the building with the help of other organizations. All of them have been waiting on lists for some time and it is like “winning the lottery” to get into housing like this, but it will be an adjustment.
“I guess I’ll be calling this home sweet home,” Bowen said. “I’m going to have to keep the window open [when I sleep] so you hear planes going over to make me feel like I got the freeway over my head protecting me.”
The tenants at the building will also receive access to supportive resources while they are there.
That amounts to a renovation cost of $461,538 per apartment. WTF????
FF, we — the readers of this here platform – have discussed this issue regarding these apartments for literally a couple of years now ad nuseum; don’t start. Do a word search on “Abbott apartments” or something like that. So, I’m not going to respond and I hope you take my advice.
How much do they pay in rent?
Meanwhile we’re allowing wealthy property investors to permanently remove thousands of low rent housing and apartments from inventory in exchange for a $1,000 STRO licensing fee.
Makes sense.
kh, thanks for reminding us of the context of the situation.
Nice to see that our tiny amount of supportive housing is being used to solve Seattle’s homeless problem.
I might’ve picked a local person to interview for this story if they are trying to win over hearts and minds.
The one guy that is quoted lived along the San Diego River for 10 years!!!! That’s longer than most OBceans have lived along Abbott Street.
Bowen packed his bags and headed to sunny San Diego, where he has been for 10 years. The majority of that time was spent in the riverbed of the San Diego River, living on what has been referred to as “the island.”
What is the rent per unit ?
Who pays the rent ?
Sad that working families struggle and are not getting this kind of support.
Children are food insecure and left hungry,
What the f*** are you talking about???!!! Some formerly homeless people get an apartment and you’re all upset that working families aren’t getting “this kind of support.” WTF??
Get the know the history of something before you lambast it with broad strokes of bias.
This was an OB project all the way; a local non-profit owned the building, formerly used by women seeking assistance from abusive men; then turned into 13 livable apartments with state funds.
Whoa
Is it wrong to care about working families and food insecure children ?
All I asked was the rental cost and funding ?
I didn’t deserve to be put on blast.
Sorry to have offended you as it was not my intent.
Okay — I’m somewhat sensitive about negative comments about this project, having weathered a similar storm of crappy comments earlier when the project was first announced. Of course it’s not wrong to care about working families etc but you miss the entire point of this project and I just ask that you investigate some before flying off the handle. Did not mean to offend you either.
See, here’s what I’m talking about. Right after your comment Ojos Azul, somebody left this little turd: “Just what OB needs more of:pitbulls & Parolee’s.”
I am hoping these apartments provide some stability for these folks. A nephew of mine lived in a river bed for years…he collected cans and over time was able to get a car he could live in and provide transportation to a job. He then saved enough money to get his own place. Some folks just need a leg up to get them on a better trajectory. Thanks for publishing this story.
Thank you.
I enjoy reading the OBRAG and will look up older articles about this project.
Maybe those articles will have the answers to my questions ?
Peace out.
… and thanks for being understanding.
Just curious, are there any kind of “requirements” to remain in the housing? For example: no drugs, actively searching for a job, etc.
Also, I’m not against this by any means…
As long as they are not in La Jolla . . . . . .