City officials outline homelessness plan and say roughly 2,400 affordable units are managed locally

City officials on the dais described recent steps on homelessness and affordable housing, saying the city is coordinating regionally on shelter capacity and has added units through acquisitions.

Deputy City Manager Phil Burn told the council the housing authority now manages “about 2,400 units in one form of affordability or another,” and pointed to a newly opened emergency shelter at PATH and a recently purchased apartment community that “instantly added 70 new units” to the affordable portfolio. "I think the full report that Valerie presented is online," Burn said, referring to a housing manager briefing for details.

Mayor Warren described a regional navigation center planned with eight neighboring western cities, saying it would provide “about 220 beds or so” to serve individuals experiencing homelessness across participating jurisdictions. The mayor called the project a major step toward the city’s broader homelessness work and praised the FORGE outreach team’s ongoing street-level engagement.

The mayor and Burn framed these items as part of a multi-pronged strategy that includes emergency shelter, outreach and housing acquisition. Burn cautioned the council that a fuller accounting of program types and long-term funding is available in the housing manager’s presentation, which he directed council and the public to for comprehensive figures.

Next steps: the mayor said the council will continue coordination with county and partner cities on the navigation center and implementation details, and staff will refer members to the online housing report for a program-level breakdown.