By admin 
The estimated cost of a controversial tiny home project for homeless seniors in North Natomas has almost doubled, delaying the project while its sister developments in south Sacramento move forward this year.
Read more Sacramento County pays $1.5 million to settle foster care sexual assault suit
Up until last week, city officials indicated that the “micro-community” pitched for Arena Boulevard was estimated to cost about as much as the two proposed in south Sacramento — around $3.7 million.
But a March cost estimate obtained by The Sacramento Bee shows that the development planned for Arena Boulevard was projected to cost $7.1 million, almost twice what city staff initially estimated.
City Manager Maraskeshia Smith, Assistant City Manager Ryan Moore and Department of Community Response director Brian Pedro did not respond to interview requests. Instead, city spokesperson Jennifer Singer offered brief statements via email.
“The $3.4 million figure was a preliminary estimate developed before the City had received construction bids that could help inform the actual cost of building a Micro-Community,” Singer wrote. “Because this is the City’s first time developing this type of project, those early estimates were based on assumptions about site work, utilities, construction and other costs.”
“The City continues to move forward with its planned Micro-Communities,” the statement read.
But city officials declined repeated requests for an updated cost estimate.
The Department of Community Response, the arm of the city that manages the city’s homelessness services, did not include the site in . The budget DCR submitted in May only includes funds for the two micro-community sites in south Sacramento.
In an interview Mayor Kevin McCarty said that all three projects were on track and that the process of developing the sites at 2461 Gardendale Road in Meadowview and 6360 25th St. in Brentwood, as well as the safe camping site in the River District, was helping them understand what to expect for the Arena Boulevard project and a potential micro-community in District 7, which includes Land Park and the Pocket.
“We’re zeroing in on the ‘shovel-ready’ sites not just so we can learn how to do the third and fourth ones but because we need to help people out,” he said. “We have a waiting list of seniors who want to go. That’s the big picture. It’s about helping seniors who are struggling, who are in city shelters that are really excited about the opportunity to live in a facility that has a little more dignity and space for them.”
While the micro-community model was championed by McCarty and a key part of his six-point plan to address homelessness, it’s the city staff who are responsible for executing the agreement.
When asked why DCR did not include the Arena Boulevard site in its budget, Singer wrote that the document “reflects the two sites the City is currently prioritizing, Gardendale Road and 25th Street.”
When The Bee asked if that meant the department wasn’t planning to move forward with the Arena Boulevard site this fiscal year, she wrote that “the City Manager will continue to assess the viability of future Micro-Community sites.”
Emails between city staffers after the March cost estimate was produced indicate unexpected issues with the site because of its location on an A99 flood zone, which could result in higher costs for the project.
The city has already purchased 120 tiny homes as well as prefabricated bathroom facilities from Boss Homes for a total of $3,344,161, according to sales orders obtained by The Bee.
What did city staffers write about the Natomas tiny home project?
The three cost estimates dated March 10 range from $6.7 million to $7.1 million.
Emails from later in March obtained by The Bee show that further complications with the project arose when city staffers discovered additional compliance requirements for the project. The minimum flood elevation for structures on the Arena Boulevard had raised by 12 inches, requiring two additional steps for each of the 40 tiny homes, plus the project now required an onsite drainage system and drainage study.
Department of Utilities Director Dalia Fadl wrote in an email that Moore, who is her supervisor, “flat out said” that he didn’t want to provide the drainage system and study because he “didn’t understand the need.”
“There is also concern that these conditions might be used as part of the justification to stop the project (politically sensitive). Please advise,” Fadl wrote.
Read more Sacramento City Unified keeps rescinded teachers’ union deal in solvency plan
In an email Moore asked Fadl for an explanation of that requirement, writing: “if this project comes in with excessively high bids, my concern is that we’ll be called on to answer this question and there will be a large degree of scrutiny on our answer.”
The consequence of not complying with FEMA requirements could mean the city losing the floodplain insurance discounts it receives by complying with the incentive program.
“If the City is downgraded in the CRS program, insurance rates will go up throughout the entire City, not just Natomas,” Fadl responded. “However, Natomas will be the most impacted as that is currently the only large area of the City mandated to have flood insurance.”
The city did not respond to questions about how these factors affected the overall cost estimate of the Arena Boulevard site.
Leaving residents ‘in the dark’
Councilmember Lisa Kaplan, who represents North Natomas, said that the process has left her office “completely in the dark.”
“I’ve received no update on anything from the city and I have asked to be kept in-the-know, but it appears that I only find out things if I dig,” she said.
Kaplan has been outspoken in her objection to the North Natomas project and to the city’s micro-community model, seeking earlier this year to undo a 2023 ordinance which gave the city manager unilateral authority to build temporary housing projects without council approval.
“For a project that directly impacts our neighborhoods, discovering site developments through community members and social media rather than internal communication is a profound failure of governance,” she wrote. “This backroom approach has eroded public trust, leading to justified community outrage and ongoing lawsuits from the very residents we are elected to serve.”
Councilmember Karina Talamantes, whose district borders the project from the south, also expressed frustration with city transparency.
“The City needs to be clearer and more proactive in informing the public on the status of these projects that will directly impact our neighbors,” she wrote in a statement.
The proposed project at Arena Boulevard has drawn the most pushback from members of the council and ire from nearby residents. Natomas residents Anabel Gonzalez and Richard Loek are involved in a lawsuit against the city and have for months been seeking relevant public records.
The ‘micro-community’ model
The “micro-community” model in which residents would pay 30% of their income to be sheltered in one of 40 prefabricated units was pitched as an affordable way to get homeless seniors off the streets. Residents of the 120-square-foot tiny homes (which Kaplan calls “sheds”) will have access to electricity, heat and air conditioning but would share bathroom facilities with fewer on-site services.
What these sites lack in amenities they would make up for by cost efficiency for the city — at an initial projected cost of $92,500 per bed ($3.7 million total), a development could be built at a quarter of the cost of other traditional transitional housing options, which can run closer to $420,000.
McCarty said in September that the strategy would be “more cost-effective for the taxpayers,” and has likened the micro-community model to buying a Corolla rather than a luxury car.
“When we get to permanent supportive housing with HVAC and traditional bathrooms, like that would be amazing, but those are $700,000 per door, so that’s the Rolls-Royce version,” he said. “So this ‘Corolla’ version is way better than a tent.”
Read more Roaches, insect egg sacs. What else was found at these Sacramento-area eateries?