The final regulatory hurdle for starting physical work on Manteca’s permanent homeless navigation center could be cleared Tuesday.

That’s when the City Council conducts a public hearing during their 6 p.m. meeting to consider approving an amendment to an existing conditional use permit at 555 Industrial Park Drive to allow the rehabilitation of onsite structures to proceed.

The structure is the 56,000-square-foot former Qualex photo processing building.

If the amendment is approved, the city can proceed with the $18.5 million project that covers the purchase price, remodeling and furnishings.

The city will not be spending local taxes on the endeavor.

That is due to the successful efforts of Mayor Gary Singh, working in concert with former State Senator Susan Talamantes Eggman to secure a $16 million State of California grant.
The city has an additional $5 million in hand of state and federal funding for the project.

The permanent navigation center will house up to 190 homeless. It will include support facilities such as a kitchen, dining room, bathrooms, and such.

There also will be space for “wraparound services” to address everything from mental health issues, medical care, and other services aimed at getting homeless off the street permanently, employed and into housing.

 Originally, the plan was to build a new homeless navigation facility where the city will break ground in the coming months on a new police station in the 600 block of South Main Street.

New construction was advised by a previous city hall administration as being less costly but no construction experts were obtained to make such an assessment.

Current City Manager Toni Lundgren questioned that assumption.

As a result, the City Council is now moving forward with remodeling the Qualex structure with space to address needs into the foreseeable feature at a cost that is roughly 40 percent less than new construction.

The city currently operates an emergency shelter in portable dorms with 75 beds overall in the parking lot at the 555 Industrial Park Drive site.

There are also eight transitional housing units.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com