Palo Alto Homekey Site Finally Opens

Palo Alto and homelessness nonprofit LifeMoves opened Homekey Palo Alto with a ribbon cutting on May 14, marking the public debut of a long-delayed interim housing site at 1237 San Antonio Road. The modular complex has 88 private units for individuals and families experiencing homelessness and was developed through California’s Project Homekey program. (paloalto.gov) City officials said the $37.2 million site is the first project of its kind in Palo Alto and is expected to welcome residents at the end of June. The opening comes after months of delays that pushed LifeMoves to place future residents in a Sunnyvale hotel while construction wrapped up. That bridge arrangement let the nonprofit keep people sheltered and positioned to move into the Palo Alto apartments once the site was ready. The project arrives as Palo Alto faces a larger unsheltered population, with city documents and county data cited by local reports showing roughly 400 unsheltered people in the city in 2025, many living in vehicles. (paloalto.gov) ### What exactly opened on San Antonio Road? Homekey Palo Alto is a 1-acre modular interim housing community near the Baylands Nature Preserve and the Mountain View border. The site includes 88 private units with ensuite bathrooms and showers, plus on-site laundry, a dining hall, a playground, a dog run, a community garden and space for counseling, vocational training and other services. (paloalto.gov) The city owns the property and LifeMoves will operate it. Nicholas Hodges, LifeMoves’ interim chief executive, said at the opening that the site was designed to create a setting that encourages clients to come indoors and rebuild stability. Mayor Vicki Veenker said the project was built through a partnership among the city, nonprofits, philanthropy and the community. (sanjosespotlight.com) ### Why were people staying in Sunnyvale before this site was ready? LifeMoves began using a Sunnyvale hotel in February as a temporary bridge after the Palo Alto project missed its earlier opening target. The nonprofit said the hotel’s layout and available rooms made it suitable for housing people who were expected to transfer into Homekey once it opened. LifeMoves and Palo Alto did not publish the hotel’s exact location, citing resident safety. (paloalto.gov) Maria Prato, a LifeMoves spokesperson, said in April that the Sunnyvale site was opened as the organization scrambled to meet a state deadline to provide shelter to unhoused individuals. Local reporting described the hotel as housing dozens of Palo Alto residents, including people who had been living in shelters, on the street or in vehicles. (paloalto.gov) ### What caused the delay? A contractor dispute slowed the final stretch of construction, according to public records and statements previously reported by Palo Alto Weekly and San José Spotlight. The dispute involved general contractor Devcon Construction and subcontractors including ARECO Construction and Volumetric Building Companies, which handled the modular units. Ed Shikada, Palo Alto’s city manager, wrote in a November email to the City Council that the payment disputes totaled $1.4 million, according to the report. (sanjosespotlight.com) Paul Simpson, LifeMoves’ chief financial officer, wrote in a December memo that Devcon remained contractually responsible for delivering the site at the agreed price. Devcon chief executive Gary Filizetti said the company began paying ARECO directly to finish the work on time. (sanjosespotlight.com) ### How will the site operate once residents move in? The city said Homekey Palo Alto is expected to support more than 200 people each year through interim housing and on-site services. Those services include case management, physical and behavioral health care, employment support, educational development, legal services, pet care and connections to permanent housing. Palo Alto will continue to contribute $1 million a year toward operations, Veenker said at the ceremony. (sanjosespotlight.com) Tasheana Price, who now works with LifeMoves after previously experiencing homelessness in Palo Alto, said at the May 14 event that she wished this kind of housing had existed when she needed it. “This right here is monumental to me,” she said. (sanjosespotlight.com) ### What happens next for the people in the hotel? The city said on May 14 that Homekey Palo Alto is set to welcome individuals and families at the end of June. LifeMoves has said people placed in the Sunnyvale hotel are expected to transition into rooms at Homekey once the Palo Alto site opens. That move is expected to happen over the coming weeks as the operator begins filling the 88 units. (sanjosespotlight.com) (paloalto.gov)