Contra Costa County officials recently celebrated the transformation of a vacant office building in San Pablo into 54 micro-unit apartments for homeless adults with disabilities.
When tenants arrive later this summer, El Portal Place at 2555 El Portal Drive will provide them with onsite services such as case management, community supports, and referrals to services such as behavioral health, benefits assistance and healthcare, according to the County.
“The facility will become the first built by the county specifically for residents who meet federal criteria for chronic homelessness, meaning they have been unhoused for a long period of time and have disabilities that prevent them from maintaining permanent housing on their own,” County officials said.
Each micro-unit apartment comes with a bathroom, kitchenette and workspace. The complex also features a community room, courtyard, garden, and dog park.
The project was funded via $5.2 million in Measure X funds (the half-cent sales tax approved by county voters in 2020), and $16 million from the state’s Homekey program.
It is the second Homekey facility to open in Contra Costa County after Delta Landing, a 172-unit interim housing site established in Pittsburg in 2022.
The supportive housing is being constructed at a time of rising homelessness. The County’s point-in-time survey of homelessness in January revealed a 19 percent increase over the previous year’s estimate, with 2,843 people experiencing homelessness in the county on any given night. During the same period, the county said it increased its daily capacity of temporary and permanent housing beds by 26 percent.
“El Portal Place is an innovative project connecting people in desperate need with quality
housing and services to improve their health,” said Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia, whose district includes San Pablo. “We appreciate our strong partnership with the City of San Pablo, and the continued support from Governor Gavin Newsom. These homes help us achieve equity and improved health for county residents.”
