There’s an affordable housing crunch throughout San Luis Obispo County, and to help meet the demand, a new housing development project in Pismo Beach is aiming to provide supportive housing to working families, transitional youth, and formerly homeless individuals.
The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Pismo Beach is $2,400, according to Zumper National Rent report.
Ken Trigueiro, CEO of People’s Self Help Housing, said far too many people can’t afford rent that high.
“Our highest wait list counts are in the Five Cities area, where there is just not enough housing available that is affordable," Triguerio said.
People’s Self-Help Housing has partnered with 5 Cities Homeless Coalition, the City of Pismo Beach and the County of SLO to bring 50 affordable housing units to Pismo Beach.
The Pismo Terrace will be built on a 1.2 acre site off North Fourth street across from the Motel 6 and the units will be 1 and two bedrooms.
Triguerio said these units will truly be affordable.
“We will probably have people that are paying rent as low as $250," Triguerio said. "And probably the highest is around the $900’s for a two bedroom.”
Triguerio said the housing will accommodate people from all walks of life, but priority will be given to those who financially need it the most.
“If they are making 60 percent of whatever the median income is for their household size then they will be eligible to apply," Triguerio said. "But we have a bunch of different scales because we are trying to serve people who are making even less.”
Triguerio said it’s not just about helping with housing, but connecting them to resources the residents may need, like mental health and physical medical assistance.
“Maybe there has been a job loss, and they need to find a job," Triguerio said. "Well, we are plugging them into, ‘Do they need to be retrained? Do they need resume building?’ We can plug them into other agencies that are doing that.”
Construction is set to begin in fall 2021. Triguerio said interest is expected to be high, and there will be a waitlist.
For more information about the Pismo Terrace and similar housing complexes throughout the county, click here.
