SAN DIEGO—It's important to find a wraparound approach that includes social services that tackle what got the homeless into the homeless situation in the first place, otherwise we have a revolving problem, CREW San Diego president and VP of marketing and business development for Johnson & Jennings General Contracting Jackie Isidore tell GlobeSt.com. CREW-SD recently hosted an educational event titled “Homelessness and the Impact on Commercial Real Estate” to explore the issue and what San Diego is doing about it. We spoke exclusively with Isidore after the event about the takeaways.

GlobeSt.com: Why did you choose this topic?

Isidore: The education committee chose it because so many citizens are impacted homelessness, but what's not talked about much is its impact on commercial real estate. We were also interested to know what the City and County are doing about this problem, which affects our industry. The panel was pretty varied; it included Melissa Peterman, VP of Homeless Housing Innovations for the San Diego Housing Commission; developer Danny Fitzgerald, a real state professional who specifically works to build affordable housing; and Susan Bower, County of San Diego HHSA.

GlobeSt.com: What were the main takeaways from the event?

Isidore: They talked about not having a lot of affordable housing, which can lead to homelessness, and what people who are part of CRE or developers could do to alleviate that problem. They discussed the importance of public/private partnerships.

Melissa talked about HUD vouchers that applied to privately owned apartment buildings and working on the 1,000 Homeless Veterans Initiative, whose goal is to house 1,000 homeless veterans in private apartment buildings. She discussed how this is partly a PR issue: homeless veterans could be thought to be more difficult tenants to house; Some of these veterans come with mental and behavioral issues and possibly addiction issues—HUD is providing 24-hour social-services resources and support available to these landlords. All members of the panel talked about how important it is to find a wraparound approach—not just finding somebody housing, but treating what leads them to homelessness. Melissa also said regarding apartment owners who have tenants on the HUD voucher plan that they should make money and receive fair rental rates.

Danny Fitzgerald talked about how restaurants in beach communities can't find dishwashers because the only place they can afford to live is too far away. We need to make affordable housing available and in a variety of geographical areas. Danny also talked about how the remaining available land in San Diego is not zoned for enough density—you can't build enough apartments to make it pencil for affordable housing. We need to talk to the City about reexamining the requirements or allowances for density of the apartment complexes you're allowed to build in certain areas.

The discussion went back and forth between Danny and Melissa. Danny mentioned as an option HUD buying some of these older apartments—particularly in Bankers Hill—to redevelop and get density without having to go through the current process of building new apartments. They talked about new dorms that were just built at USD that have tiny rooms with a bathroom and shared amenities and could they possibly be able to copy that in terms of doing something for affordable housing? But after being homeless on the street and in shelters and groups, homeless people don't want roommates; they want their own space. HUD and the government work within a budget, and certain things not feasible because of restraints, but it is a government issue. Forming public/private partnerships can help alleviate this issue.

GlobeSt.com: What else should our readers know about this topic?

Isidore: There was lots of interest and questions from the audience. Some owners can't find nearby workers to clean their buildings. HHS put a lot of stats out there, and the numbers were interesting. Susan's goal this year is making sure that the City has enough resources for people that need help with mental and behavioral issues and addiction issues—making these services available to people who need them.

Instant Insights /

Homelessness Solution Goes Beyond Providing Housing

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