Why the TownePlace Suites Hotel?
TownePlace Suites, located at 1000 Twin Dolphin Drive, was selected because it provides the opportunity to provide permanent affordable housing for extremely low income seniors as swiftly as possible. The property includes 95 apartments: three 2-bedroom units, 15 1-bedroom units, eight expanded studios (each with a separate sleeping area) and 69 large studios. Each unit includes a full kitchen.

There are two laundry rooms, an exercise room and an outdoor patio with grilling area. The hotel also includes a breakfast room, prep kitchen and 95 dedicated parking spaces and is fully accessible under the Americans With Disabilities Act. The 2.07-acre property is located less than half-mile from a grocery store, pharmacy and bus stop.

In San Mateo County, the population over the age of 60 is expected to increase nearly 143% from 2010 to 2060, according to the California Department of Aging. By the year 2030 in San Mateo County, the County’s Division of Aging and Adult Services projects:

• 1 out of 4 residents will be over 65
• The number of adults over 65 will increase by 72%
• The number of people over 85 will increase to two and a half times the current number

Who will live there?
The property will be exclusively for seniors ages 62 and older who meet eligibility requirements. These requirements include housing only seniors with extremely low incomes — capped at 30 percent of Area Median Income. This translates to an annual income of $41,760 for a two-person family in San Mateo County.

In County-financed senior housing, priority is typically given to:

• Formerly homeless seniors
• Medically frail seniors
• Disabled seniors
• Seniors who lost their homes/place of residence due to COVID-19

Will the seniors be current San Mateo County residents?
As in all County-run affordable housing programs, preference is given to San Mateo County residents. Applications for affordable housing always far outnumber availability. This nearly guarantees that local, San Mateo County residents will reside in the hotel.

What experience does the County have in providing affordable housing?
A lot. Just since 2013 the County has provided funding to help build, protect and rehabilitate 43 affordable housing complexes through the Affordable Housing Fund, providing more than 3,300 units ofaffordable housing throughout the county. This includes nine complexes for seniors that include Half Moon Bay Village in Half Moon Bay, Alma Point at Foster Square in Foster City and Rotary Terrace in South San Francisco.

The County collaborates with public and private investors to provide financing; once completed, affordable housing projects are typically operated on a day-to-day basis by an experienced entity, either a community-based (nonprofit organization) or a private enterprise with a proven track record.

Who will operate the Redwood Shores facility?
The County has committed to contracting with an entity or team with a strong history of operating affordable senior housing facilities. The selected entity will have demonstrated experience with staffing and operating facilities for seniors with a range of special needs.

The County expects to release a Request for Qualifications to potential operators in December. The County has committed to an open selection process. An ongoing community advisory committee will be established with public meetings.

What type of support services will be offered?
The County will work closely with the selected operator to determine a robust plan for resident and supportive services designed to meet the needs of the tenants.

We would expect that seniors selected to live at TownePlace Suites will be able to live independently (do their own food shopping, for instance), some with supportive services and case management from County Health and the Human Services Agency. In addition, the selected operator will be expected to provide senior resident services (gatherings, social events, financial literacy, exercise and wellness activities, check-ins to prevent elder isolation, etc.) and have staff onsite to help coordinate between residents and County service providers to ensure residents that can benefit from supportive services are well-linked to those offerings.

All tenants will enter into a lease and will be required to pay rent of approximately 30% of their income.

Security will be provided by the operator who will work closely with the County, SamTrans and others to ensure that the transportation needs of the residents are met.

Why was the Redwood Shores community not involved early in the discussions to purchase the property and convert its use?
The state established an aggressive timeline for local jurisdictions to identify appropriate properties to provide interim and permanent housing under the Homekey program.

In order to meet the state’s timeline, the County contacted hotel owners countywide, working with local business groups and the hospitality industry. The County met with nearly 100 hotel owners, receiving interest from roughly 10 property owners.

The opportunity to acquire the TownePlace Suites property became real with the State’s Homekey award announcement October 29, 2020. At that point, the County immediately began stakeholder outreach and met with the Redwood Shores Community Association to discuss the proposal 20 days later, while moving quickly to meet the unprecedented December deadlines.

What is the purchase price?
The agreement between the County as buyer, and Redwood Suites, LLC, as seller, establishes the purchase price at $29,250,000 for the property. The Property consists of 2.07 acres, which includes the 56,692-square-foot, 95-room hotel and 95 dedicated parking spaces.

Why are the only two Project Homekey properties located in Redwood City? How many other hotels did you evaluate as a serious contender before the final selection?
The County released an RFQ to the owners of hotels across the County and received serious interest from the owners of roughly ten hotels. The Homekey timeline was extremely aggressive, and the TownePlace Suites and Pacific Inn were the only two suitable properties for which the County was able to reach a preliminary agreement with the owner in time to submit a funding application to the State. However, throughout the Homekey application process and beyond, the County has continued pursuing additional opportunities that would not utilize Homekey funding. The County is currently in contract to acquire a hotel in Half Moon Bay to help address homelessness on the coast and continues to evaluate new opportunities for future consideration.

What background screenings will prospective residents be subject to before occupancy?
The TownePlace Suites will be utilized as a rental apartment building where tenants will have standard leases and be expected to pay 30% of their income toward rent. Thus, prospective tenants will be screened to ensure they can reside independently at the property, like any other apartment building. Property managers of affordable housing developments typically ensure through screening and interviews that prospective tenants can comply with lease terms, pay rent on time, keep their home in good condition, do not disturb neighbors or damage property, do not engage in criminal activity, and so forth.

Will residents be required to get the COVID vaccine when it becomes available?
The County and operator will strongly encourage residents to be vaccinated and offer opportunities to do so but cannot force residents to be vaccinated.

What restrictions are in place to ensure the project’s target population is not changed without the consultation of the community and Redwood City?
As the County does in all affordable housing projects it finances, shortly after selecting an operator, the County and operator will enter into a legally-enforceable 55-year regulatory agreement requiring the property be operated as affordable senior housing. This is also a requirement of the State’s Homekey funding.

How will 2-bedroom units be utilized?
The TownePlace Suites property includes three 2-bedroom units. While a couple could reside in a 2- bedroom unit, we would look to target senior households that have stronger need for a unit of this size. One example would be a senior or couple that has a live-in health aide requiring a second bedroom.

Who will oversee the program and will be responsible for logistical management of the TownePlace Suites if issues arise?
As with any affordable housing development financed by the County, primary responsibility for day-to- day operation and management of the property will rest with the selected operator under contract with the County. If issues arise, the County will enforce its rights under the contract and force the operator to bring the property into compliance. The community will receive direct contact information for both the operator and County once the operator is brought on board.

In the event a resident at the shelter breaks the rules and regulations what repercussions are there for them?
Note that the TownePlace Suites will be utilized as permanent affordable housing for seniors, rather than as a transitional shelter. As such, residents at the TownePlace Suites property will have standard leases and be expected to comply with the requirements of the lease. While the County expects its operators to be skilled at working with tenants to resolve issues as best possible, ongoing problems can and would ultimately be dealt with through eviction, like any other rental apartment property.

Will there be any construction before conversion?
It is unlikely that any construction will take place before occupancy. If any renovation work were to occur, it would most likely include minor changes on the ground floor to pivot the current setting from hotel to residential use. Due to the aggressive occupancy deadlines of the Homekey program, even this work is more likely to take place after occupancy.

Who will pay for ongoing maintenance of the facility? What funding will be available to assure that the property is well-maintained?
As is the case for all affordable housing developments the County finances, residents will need to pay rent. Since most extremely low-income seniors are on fixed incomes, the County and operator will together structure a plan to cover any gap between rents and operating costs. These gaps are often resolved with rental subsidy from the County’s Housing Authority and/or capitalized operating reserve accounts financed by the County’s Affordable Housing Fund and other State, Federal, and private funding sources for affordable housing.

Will the operator also be responsible for maintaining the grounds (landscaping, parking lot, hotel lobby) around the property?
Yes, and the County requires that this work be fulfilled at a high standard through our contract with the operator.

Is the County working with SamTrans to provide a convenient bus stop accessible to residents? Will free or low-cost transportation like Redi-wheels be provided to residents of the property?
The County and operator will explore opportunities to improve bus accessibility for residents with SamTrans. The operator will also be required to create a transportation plan for all residents. Some may drive and own a car while others may prefer public transportation. Still more may already be linked with a transportation service like Redi-wheels and other similar services. In partnership with the County, the operator will be expected to provide a transportation plan for any resident that cannot access one of these or other transportation options, which may include a shuttle.

Will the facility provide health services or accessible, affordable, and healthy food, and how will this be achieved?
Any residents that are not already linked with County services, including health services, will be connected to those opportunities at the time of occupancy. The operator will provide additional onsite resident services and ensure that County-provided case management and health services are accessible to all residents. Any resident that has need for healthy food would quickly be connected to Second Harvest or other providers that work closely with the County to provide quality food to vulnerable populations in the County.

What are the County’s specific measures and plans to ensure the crime will not increase in the Redwood Shores neighborhood? Will there be an additional police patrol provided for Redwood Shores?
The TownePlace Suites property falls within Redwood City jurisdiction, but the County does not believe the city’s police will be impacted due to new affordable senior rental apartments. The property will be professionally managed by an experienced owner/operator of affordable senior housing, and tenants will be responsible for paying rent and abiding by the terms of their lease. The operator will establish rules like any other apartment building, and tenants can be evicted if those rules are not adhered to.

What assurances does the community have the occupants will not pose a threat to our community?
The future residents of the TownePlace Suites property will be extremely low-income seniors, many of whom were formerly homeless or on the verge of homelessness. Data and studies show that persons in these situations are much more often the victims of crime than perpetrators – another reason for providing a safe, dignified place to call home for some of our vulnerable seniors. Like any home anywhere, there is no way to completely guarantee that a person who moves into an apartment won’t at some point in their life experience a crisis and require assistance dealing with it, but the experienced owner/operators of affordable housing in our region, and more specifically, their supportive service staff, are experts at preventing these situations and responding to them in rare cases. The selected operator and the County will want to meet regularly with a to-be-formed community advisory committee to check in on the status of the property over time, solicit feedback, and find ways for the community, operator, and County to partner to continue ensuring a successful outcome for the site and supportive environment for seniors who need it.

What are the County’s specific mitigation strategies if there is a COVID outbreak at the property? How will the County assist the daycare center next door if a COVID outbreak occurs?
The County has hired extra staff to work with at-risk seniors, and they have become experts at controlling these types of outbreaks. The key is quarantining for those who are well enough to stay in their home while they receive support. If a person is not well enough to remain at home, they will be taken to the hospital for treatment. In this way, the fact that these seniors will have their own housing unit greatly helps prevent infection and spread in our County. Additionally, keep in mind that the TownePlace Suites property will be rental apartments, not a medical care facility or skilled nursing facility. The seniors who will live at the property will be independent enough to live without the daily medical services provided at a licensed senior care facility.

The County and operator would work closely to alert the neighboring daycare center if residents at the property became sick and together prevent crossover between occupants, but we don’t anticipate issues given the distance between the two structures (and forthcoming vaccines!).

Will residents be allowed to use recreational drugs at the property?
No.

Given the short turn around for selection of an operator/provider, what solicitation process is the County utilizing? RSCA requests that the County share a copy of the RFQ/ RFP/RFI.
The County is preparing to issue a RFQ for an operator/manager/service provider the week of December 21st and has shared a draft with the RSCA for review.
(Click here to review the RFQ.)

Will the County agree to a steering or oversight board that consists of RSCA board members and Redwood Shores residents? Can the County partner with the RSCA in the selection process for the operator and involve the board in drafting rules for the property?
The County would appreciate the RSCA’s participation, both in selecting an experienced operator and establishing a community advisory committee. The County will review RFQ responses and select a recommended operator and have that organization meet with and present to a RSCA panel and the County for information, Q&A, and feedback before finalizing a contract. Once the operator is on board, the County and operator will meet regularly with a community advisory committee created in partnership with the RSCA to discuss all range of topics from house rules, to status updates, leasing opportunities, and advertisements.

Will the property be audited and how often?
The County carries out yearly desk monitoring of the affordable projects it finances and bi-annual physical inspections. At this time, we are unsure to what degree the State will also want to monitor and audit the property.