A novel solution to homelessness will open soon in Redwood City, Calif. The San Mateo County Navigation Center is a compact residential campus that employs modular units to create individual sleeping units, most with private bathrooms. The 240 units of housing will be accompanied by shared services and community spaces. Instead of the congregate dorm-style shelters found in many U.S. cities, this approach gives each resident a private, lockable, conditioned sleeping space.
The project's architect, Charles F. Bloszies, FAIA, calls the design concept the "Step1” interim supportive housing system. “This idea is novel, but not experimental,” he says. “It stems from listening to unhoused people themselves and the social service providers who have devoted their careers to taking on one of society’s most intractable problems: homelessness.”
Metrics from studies by social service groups, including Menlo Park-based LifeMoves, operator of the facility, show this type of supportive setting works very well, with average resident stays of three to six months. The project has been developed and managed by the San Mateo County Project Development Unit (PDU) under a design-build contract employed for all construction undertaken by the county.
According to San Mateo County’s last count, over 1,500 people there are homeless. Redwood City determined that in early 2022 over 100 unhoused people lived in 25 encampments. About half of those unhoused people told city officials they became homeless during the pandemic.
The new Redwood City solution is hailed as “revolutionary” by County Executive Officer Michael Callagy, who said, “This will change the face of homelessness in our county. This is a tremendous opportunity to help our entire community by ensuring that every homeless individual who wants shelter can find it and is treated with dignity and respect. These are real people with real issues and these funds will change lives.
For a prior 100-unit project in Mountain View, Calif., also designed by the Office of Charles F. Bloszies, FAIA, Gov. Gavin Newsom said it “is exactly the kind of project that needs to be replicated, using modular prefabricated buildings that can be stood up at blazing fast speeds and at a fraction of the cost of normal housing.”
On the project team:
Owner and/or developer: San Mateo County Project Development Unit (PDU)
Design architect: the Office of Charles F. Bloszies FAIA
Architect of record: the Office of Charles F. Bloszies FAIA
MEP engineer: Meyers+ Engineers (design)
Structural engineer: the Office of Charles F. Bloszies FAIA
General contractor/construction manager: XL Construction
Modular subcontractor/vendor: Silver Creek Industries
Related Stories
| Jan 21, 2011
Harlem facility combines social services with retail, office space
Harlem is one of the first neighborhoods in New York City to combine retail with assisted living. The six-story, 50,000-sf building provides assisted living for residents with disabilities and a nonprofit group offering services to minority groups, plus retail and office space.
| Jan 21, 2011
Nothing dinky about these residences for Golden Gophers
The Sydney Hall Student Apartments combines 125 student residences with 15,000 sf of retail space in the University of Minnesota’s historic Dinkytown neighborhood, in Minneapolis.
| Jan 21, 2011
Revamped hotel-turned-condominium building holds on to historic style
The historic 89,000-sf Hotel Stowell in Los Angeles was reincarnated as the El Dorado, a 65-unit loft condominium building with retail and restaurant space. Rockefeller Partners Architects, El Segundo, Calif., aimed to preserve the building’s Gothic-Art Nouveau combination style while updating it for modern living.
| Jan 21, 2011
Upscale apartments offer residents a twist on modern history
The Goodwynn at Town: Brookhaven, a 433,300-sf residential and retail building in DeKalb County, Ga., combines a historic look with modern amenities. Atlanta-based project architect Niles Bolton Associates used contemporary materials in historic patterns and colors on the exterior, while concealing a six-level parking structure on the interior.
| Jan 20, 2011
Worship center design offers warm and welcoming atmosphere
The Worship Place Studio of local firm Ziegler Cooper Architects designed a new 46,000-sf church complex for the Pare de Sufrir parish in Houston.
| Jan 19, 2011
Baltimore mixed-use development combines working, living, and shopping
The Shoppes at McHenry Row, a $117 million mixed-use complex developed by 28 Walker Associates for downtown Baltimore, will include 65,000 sf of office space, 250 apartments, and two parking garages. The 48,000 sf of main street retail space currently is 65% occupied, with space for small shops and a restaurant remaining.
| Jan 7, 2011
Mixed-Use on Steroids
Mixed-use development has been one of the few bright spots in real estate in the last few years. Successful mixed-use projects are almost always located in dense urban or suburban areas, usually close to public transportation. It’s a sign of the times that the residential component tends to be rental rather than for-sale.
| Jan 4, 2011
An official bargain, White House loses $79 million in property value
One of the most famous office buildings in the world—and the official the residence of the President of the United States—is now worth only $251.6 million. At the top of the housing boom, the 132-room complex was valued at $331.5 million (still sounds like a bargain), according to Zillow, the online real estate marketplace. That reflects a decline in property value of about 24%.
| Jan 4, 2011
Grubb & Ellis predicts commercial real estate recovery
Grubb & Ellis Company, a leading real estate services and investment firm, released its 2011 Real Estate Forecast, which foresees the start of a slow recovery in the leasing market for all property types in the coming year.
