The San Jose City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to add two additional sites for quick-build communities, and enhance services to improve quality-of-life for surrounding neighborhoods.

The expansion of the quick-build communities increases the total number of units to reach the city’s goal of 1,000 units completed or under development by the end of 2022.

The council approval means that 380 beds will be under development across five sites, adding to the 317 beds completed and 300 beds under construction or close to breaking ground.

“What started as an innovative alternative to congregate shelter at the onset of the pandemic morphed into a scalable model that has already provided safe, dignified housing for over 700 formerly unhoused residents,” the mayor’s office said in a press release..

“For the first time in many years—and despite rising homelessness generally—we’ve reduced unsheltered homelessness in our city through rapid deployment of quick-build, prefabricated housing,” said San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo. “Getting housing built quickly constitutes a life-or-death matter for many on our streets, and we must continue to accelerate our work.”

The council also approved the addition of enhanced services through the next budget cycle to maintain quality of life for neighborhoods that host quick-build communities. These enhanced services include dedicated monitoring, reporting and reduction of blight, vehicle abatement, community engagement, and housing resources for unhoused residents in alignment with the city’s commitment to do more to demonstrate quick-build housing communities make good neighbors.

In 2021, Liccardo set the goal of 1,000 total resident beds in quick-build communities completed, or under development by the end of 2022. San José’s quick-build communities are built in a fraction of the time and cost of traditional apartments.

Currently, the city and nonprofit partners such as HomeFirst, PATH, and Abode operate interim housing sites providing 317 emergency interim housing beds at Rue Ferrari, Bernal and Monterey, and Evans Lane. Since 2020, the city has housed over 700 in quick-build communities, 82% of whom remain housed after exiting.

City of San Jose’s 1,000 quick-build unit goal breakdown:

• 317 completed at Monterey/Bernal, Rue Ferrari, and Evans Lane
• 96 under construction in SJPD’s overflow parking lot
• 204 breaking ground at Monterey/Branham in January 2023
• 100 bed expansion planned at Rue Ferrari
• At least 280 beds under development across four sites: 85 South/Prospect Road, Jackson Ave/280 North, Cerone VTA yard, and Cottle VTA Park & Ride.