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Council approves joint Homekey application for motel-to-supportive-housing conversion at North Texas Street
Summary
The City Council unanimously authorized a joint application with Danco Communities to apply for Homekey Plus funding to convert the 3331 North Texas Street motel into permanent supportive housing, potentially adding up to 50–100 units and leveraging state capital for long-term operations and services.
Senior housing project manager Latonya Torones presented a request for the City to submit a joint application with Danco Communities to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) under the Homekey Plus program. Torones said the proposed project is a motel conversion at 3331 North Texas Street that would provide permanent supportive housing for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness and could leverage roughly $23 million in Homekey funding.
Torones outlined reasons the city is supporting the application: the project would reduce Fairfield’s unhoused population, help the city meet Regional Housing Needs Allocation goals, and leverage a modest city contribution (the council previously approved approximately $1 million) into significantly greater state funding. Torones also said the city would not own the project but would record regulatory restrictions to preserve affordability and program requirements.
Chris Dart, president of Danco Communities, described the developer’s Homekey track record (several motel-to-housing projects in Northern California) and said the firm is vertically integrated (development, construction and property management) and experienced with supportive services. Danco representatives said they expect to reconfigure existing small motel rooms into larger units with kitchenettes, to provide accessible units, fencing and controlled access, on-site management, and ongoing supportive services coordinated with Solano County behavioral health and community partners. Danco said the team is pursuing project-based vouchers (Section 8) and a 55‑year regulatory agreement as part of the Homekey structure.
Speakers during public comment included Kaminar’s supported housing director Linay (Lynae) Magnuson and Deandre Richard, who urged the council to approve the application because Homekey projects quickly move people from the streets into housing. A representative of the Northern California Carpenters Union asked the council to require prevailing wages, healthcare benefits and apprenticeship opportunities on construction, and Danco and staff confirmed Homekey projects typically require prevailing wage reporting and other compliance. A nearby property owner expressed concern about neighborhood impacts and asked for recurring, proactive outreach; Danco committed to ongoing community meetings, monthly or quarterly, and to seat neighbors at project coordination meetings.
Council members asked about funding contingencies, whether the county would provide behavioral health services, project timing and reporting, and the mechanics of regulatory agreements. Torones said a letter of support from behavioral health is required for the Homekey application and staff is coordinating with the county; Danco said operational financing would rely on project-based vouchers and other program income, and that the developer had experience covering capital and operation contingencies on similar projects.
After questions and public comment, the council voted unanimously to approve the resolution to submit the joint Homekey Plus application with Danco Communities. The motion passed without recorded roll-call names on the transcript, with the meeting record showing unanimous approval.
