SANGER – The Fresno County Board of Supervisors has approved a major funds reallocation, furthering a housing project for veterans and at-risk individuals.
At the June 10 Board of Supervisors meeting, the Board approved a resolution to move funds from Fresno’s Libre Commons project to the Sanger Modular Homekey+ permanent supportive housing (PSH) project. This funding will be put toward building 88 units on the corner of Cherry and DeWitt, with 22 units to be reserved for veterans.
“Very supportive of this, I know the community of Sanger is excited,” said Nathan Magsig, District 5 supervisor, at the board meeting. “Where there are projects that we can get past the finish line, it looks like here in Sanger this one is much more viable, so very excited about that.”
According to Dylan McCulley, homelessness program manager at the Fresno County Administrative Office, the budget for the Homekey+ project is approximately $37.9 million, with an average cost of $431,000 per unit – a lower cost than Libre Commons’ estimated $56 million, and with more units than the initially planned 51 that Libre Commons would have seen.
The original funding for the Libre Commons project came from the No Place Like Home (NPLH) program enacted by Governor Brown in July 2016. The program dedicated $2 billion to invest in developing PSH for persons in need of mental health services or experiencing homelessness.
In October 2021, the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) released a notice that NPLH funds were available through the Round Four Competitive Application Process. In January 2022, the Board approved the submission of the Libre Commons project for funding, and the program was tentatively awarded.
Problems began to arise when the project started to lose sponsors and thus lacked the additional funding needed to continue. Despite extensions made by the Board to try and secure funding before Jan. 1, 2025, no such funding was acquired and the project was deemed unviable.
On May 15, HCD authorized Fresno County to move the tentatively awarded funds for Libre Commons to Sanger Modular Homekey+. A few days later on May 20, the Board approved a revised authorizing resolution and a memorandum of understanding to include RH Community Builders and UP Holdings California as development partners, and require both companies to seek vouchers and grants to support ongoing project costs.
Following the adoption of this resolution, the next step will be coordinating with HCD and the Sanger Modular Development Team to facilitate the transfer of funds.
