Days Inn project dead; housing for homeless was goal
EL CENTRO — The controversial effort to convert an El Centro motel into low-cost apartments for the homeless has fizzled with the would-be developer alleging its failure was due to a lack of cooperation by the property owner.
Ray Roben, owner of the non-profit Imperial County Housing Coalition, had obtained county support to seek a state grant of $18 million to renovate the Days Inn at 611 N. Imperial Ave. However, the May 2 grant deadline passed without the application being completed.
“It’s done. The application was ready to go but I was unable to get my physical site inspections done. They (the owner) refused to let us in the building. I’m still trying to find out why,” Roben said Wednesday during an interview at his Imperial office.
Reached by telephone later in the day, Bob Kumar, who identified himself as the property owner, declined to discuss the matter in detail.
“I have no comment. I was out of the country. I don’t know what was going on,” he said.
Asked what his plans are for the property, Kumar added, “Unsure. I have no plans right now.”
Roben said publicly, and the county Board of Supervisors agreed, the project had the potential to get dozens of homeless off the streets and into low-cost apartments.
The board voted unanimously on Jan. 25 for the county, through its
Social Services Department, to be a co-applicant with Roben’s firm to seek a grant from the state Department of Housing and Community Development under its Homekey program. The application required the developer to have a public agency as a co-applicant.
However, the decision followed a stern rebuke of the project from several local residents and business owners who spoke on the matter during the meeting. They said they feared rather than reduce homelessness it would draw more to the area, increase an already festering crime problem, hurt business traffic and damage the value of surrounding commercial real estate.
As such, the board stressed its vote was only so the project could have a chance, with the understanding it would be more fully vetted at a later date before final approval.
The city of El Centro was tasked with verifying the project met certain requirements, though its council apparently did not have authority to approve or deny it.
County board Chairman Jesus Eduardo Escobar, Supervisor Luis Plancarte, whose district includes the Days Inn site, and El Centro Mayor Tomas Oliva did not immediately reply Wednesday to requests for comment.
But one critic noted better ways could be found to reduce the homeless population.
“I’d say that projects like this one are good for the low-income population. However, people that believed that this project, or any similar projects, were going to positively impact our homeless community really don’t understand homelessness,” said Jason Jackson, a former El Centro council member and owner of a local security firm.
“Chronic homelessness can’t be corrected with shelters, nor do these types of projects address homelessness on that level. The chronic homeless problem that El Centro and Imperial County faces is unfortunately driven by low-cost drugs and a generous and caring community,” he said.
Jackson was among those who spoke against the project at the Jan. 25 meeting, and he and others also complained the county was remiss by taking up the matter with little prior notice. The first he and others said they heard of the matter was a Jan. 23 story in this newspaper.
In a report to the board for the meeting, Social Services Director Veronica E. Rodriguez explained the urgency was so the application could be submitted by Jan. 31 for the project to get priority consideration and $500,000 more in funding. But that deadline was missed, after which and both Rodriguez and Roben said that was not a concern.
Roben said he is deeply disappointed in the outcome, noting the effort put into the scuttled application. He also praised the county for its efforts.
“The applicant must be a city, county or housing authority, but in the real world, they are not. They don’t have the staff to spend months on these,” he said. “Every city or county where this gets done, they partner with a profit or a non-profit. I want to thank the county. They gave me a shot.”
Roben, who also operates a for-profit housing-development firm, said his nonprofit completed a similar project under the first round of the Homekey program. It converted the former Hollie’s Hotel in Calexico into low-cost apartments for the homeless.
Noting it has 100 percent occupancy, he lamented what he sees as lost potential in El Centro.
“Calexico was successful because we had 1000-percent support from the city and the (property) owner. We ran into a lot of opposition (in El Centro). I wouldn’t say I can’t get through that, but it would help if we had more support to help the city’s homeless problem,” Roben said.