SLO County supervisors give $2 million to keep affordable housing at the Anderson Hotel

Mar. 8—The Housing Authority of the City of San Luis Obispo is another step closing to preserving the Anderson Hotel, an affordable housing complex for seniors and disabled adults.

On Tuesday, the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to grant $2 million to the housing authority for the Anderson Hotel.

The housing authority purchased the property in San Luis Obispo on Feb. 15 in order to continue providing subsidized housing on site, HASLO Executive Director Scott Collins told The Tribune.

"It wouldn't have been possible without (the county's) support," Collins said. "Being able to provide stable, clean, safe, reliable housing for these folks is tremendously important so that they can live with dignity and be able to access services nearby."

The $2 million from the county will partially reimburse HASLO for buying the building, and will also help fund renovation of the site, Collins said.

"With these three months of cold weather, all of us go to bed at night thinking about where people are laying their heads," Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg said at Tuesday's meeting. "This was certainly a good investment here."

Funding from other groups also helped the housing authority purchase and upgrade the facility, Collins said.

In April 2022, U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal announced that his office secured $2 million for the Anderson Hotel, including 68 vouchers to keep the units affordable for residents, The Tribune previously reported.

In addition, the city of San Luis Obispo allocated $1.7 million to the project in 2022.

"It was truly a community effort to make sure this was continued," Collins said.

Where did affording housing funding come from?

The $2 million came from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, also known as the COVID-19 Stimulus Package.

The county was awarded $55 million through the act, according to a San Luis Obispo County staff report.

At a June 2021 meeting, the Board of Supervisors dedicated $6 million of those funds to housing and homelessness services, the staff report said.

The county must decide how to spend the remainder of its ARPA funds by Dec. 31, 2024, according to the staff report.

What is Anderson Hotel in SLO?

The Anderson Hotel was built in 1923 at 955 Monterey St., the staff report said.

During the hotel's early history, it was known for hosting celebrities. Actors Clark Gable and Marlene Dietrich stayed at the Anderson Hotel before visiting Hearst Castle, media mogul William Randolph Hearst's lavish San Simeon estate, according to HASLO's website.

In 1978, the building was repurposed into an apartment complex for elderly and disabled residents, the staff report said.

For about 20 years, the property has offered 68 privately owned units to elderly and disabled community members, according to the staff report.

The apartment subsidizes rent each month "so that even an individual with no income can afford rent," the staff report said.

The average annual income of the residents is $9,000, according to the staff report.

The housing authority started temporarily relocating residents to other affordable housing locations in SLO County ahead of starting renovations, Collins said.

Almost all residents had been relocated as of Tuesday, according to Collins.

"All those individuals will be provided with the same quality, or if not higher quality, housing and affordable rates," Collins said.

When construction is completed in about two years, those residents will have the option to stay where they are, or move back into the Anderson Hotel, Collins said.

___

(c)2023 The Tribune (San Luis Obispo, Calif.)

Visit The Tribune (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) at www.sanluisobispo.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.