Major expansion coming to 40 Prado homeless shelter in SLO. Here’s what’s planned

Families facing homelessness in San Luis Obispo will get a new emergency shelter space in the next couple years thanks to a major expansion at the 40 Prado Homeless Services Center.

The nonprofit Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo has closed escrow on the 46 Prado Road property next door to the 40 Prado facility and will transform it into emergency shelter for families, CAPSLO said in a news release.

Described as the first step in CAPSLO’s plans to expand the campus, the project will likely include indoor and outdoor recreation spaces, pet-friendly areas and services such as childcare and case management, the release said.

It will be located on adjacent property that is currently in county receivership and will need some cleanup before construction can proceed.

Plans are not finalized, but the property is capable of accommodating 53 dense housing units, according to the new project’s website.

“There are more families who need help than we are able to accommodate,” CAPSLO CEO Elizabeth Steinberg said in a statement. “We can now take this site, which has a long history of health and safety violations in our community, and use it to better serve families and children in need.”

Why is CAPSLO expanding shelter space?

CAPSLO serves more than 25,000 people experiencing poverty throughout the Central Coast each year, with the number of families experiencing homelessness in San Luis Obispo County doubling to more than 120 between 2017 and 2022, the release said.

Data from the 2022 Point-in-Time count for the county likely underestimates the number of homeless families, the release said. Of the more than 120 families counted in 2022, 62% were unsheltered.

CAPSLO bought the property for $1.3 million, using money a portion of the $5 million it received in late 2022 from the Bezos Day One Families Fund, the release said.

The site will require cleanup, redevelopment and eventually construction of a new shelter structure.

CAPSLO received more than $700,000 from the California Department of Toxic Substances Control to carry out the needed demolitions, regulatory fees and clean-up plan, which must remediate metals and petroleum found in the soil, according to the release.

As it stands, the property is located in a flood plain along with two existing CAPSLO structures at 40 Prado, but CAPSLO intends to build flood-resistant buildings similar to their existing shelter, according to the website.

CAPSLO community services program director Lawren Ramos said the site has “so much potential” to help families in need.

Ramos added that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of 40 Prado’s clients were individual men and the shelter wasn’t always full at night.

Now, since a statewide moratorium on evictions was lifted in summer 2022 following the pandemic, the shelter is always at capacity, with families and children needing more services, Ramos said.

The existing shelter offers congregate housing, with shared sleeping, dining and recreation spaces, and just 1,665 square feet of the facility across five rooms and two restrooms are dedicated to families, which allows them to keep their spot each night for a limited time, according to the website.

In the new space, CAPSLO intends to build non-congregate housing consisting of separate units for each family.

“Having 46 Prado gives us the opportunity to serve those families, where parents and their kids can safely relax and have a little distance from our other population and still have walking distance access to all of the services at 40 Prado,” Ramos said.

When will emergency shelter open?

With the purchase complete,CAPSLO will move forward with an environmental assessment and will work with its government partners and neighbors through the redevelopment process.

Groundbreaking is not expected until at least 2025 due to the environmental cleanup process, according to the website.

CAPSLO outreach and development coordinator Loren Leidinger said the site has been used for a variety of reasons in the past, including a slaughterhouse in the early 1970s and a record company from 1976-83.

Most recently, the site was used as an unofficial temporary storage lot for an old vehicle retirement program, and was placed in receivership by San Luis Obispo City due to numerous health and safety violations, appointing California Receivership Group as receiver.

“Our site at 40 Prado has been an ideal location within the city, but the fact is we have run out of land to build or expand,” Ramos said in the release. “The need for temporary shelter is just too great to fit everything we need to do.”