Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Wall Street Selloff Sparked by Trump Tariffs, Amazon Results, Weak Payrolls

3 hours ago

US Construction Spending Extends Decline in June

3 hours ago

Global Shares in Red After US Jobs Data, Trump’s Tariff Salvo

3 hours ago

Construction of $200M Trump Ballroom at the White House to Begin in September

22 hours ago

US Senate Committee Backs $1 Billion for Ukraine in Pentagon Spending Bill

1 day ago

Trump Says Mexico Trade Deal Extended for 90 Days

1 day ago

Fresno Unified Trustee Susan Wittrup Responds to $162,000 Payout

2 days ago
Parkway Drive Motel Slated to Convert to Homeless Housing With State Grant
TLBBHMAP3-U010ALB5ANM-348f959abae2-512-300x300-1
By Jim Jakobs, Digital Producer
Published 5 years ago on
September 22, 2020

Share

Motel drive, an area Fresno City Council President Miguel Arias says is an “epicenter of human and drug trafficking” is getting  a partial makeover.

Governor Gavin Newsom announced the Fresno Housing Authority will receive over $7.6 million as part of the second round of awards for Project Homekey. According to a press release, these funds will eventually turn one hotel on Parkway Drive into permanent “high quality affordable housing.”

The 99-unit motel will initially be used to provide interim housing for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, and people most at risk from COVID‐19.

The specific hotel being acquired is still being kept under wraps until the transaction is finalized.

Parkway Drive Corridor

Fresno Housing describes Parkway Drive as a densely developed strip of underutilized motels in an area of concentrated poverty. Individuals and families in this area who are experiencing or are at risk of homelessness, are at an extreme risk during the pandemic.

“This ambitious plan to revitalize Parkway Drive Corridor will also benefit the surrounding neighborhood and support the individuals and children currently living in unhealthy conditions and who are especially vulnerable during this time,” said Preston Prince, CEO of Fresno Housing in said in a statement.  “We have been working with community partners for a meaningful way to contribute, and in July, along came this once‐in‐a‐generation opportunity from the State to accelerate and catalyze our collective vision for the neighborhood. We are so grateful for this opportunity.”

Fresno Housing submitted several applications for various hotels along Parkway Drive but only received funding for one of them.

Project Homekey

Homekey is a $600 million program providing funding to several cities, counties and housing authorities across California to purchase and rehabilitate underutilized hotels, motels, vacant apartment buildings and other properties. The program provides immediate housing for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, and people most at risk from COVID‐19.

City Leaders React

“I have been working for years to improve the quality of life for families and individuals living on motel drive,” says Arias. “This significant investment follows our City’s adoption of my proposal to eliminate the slumlord conditions in some of these facilities.”

Fresno Mayor Lee Brand added, “We are pleased to support Fresno Housing and this transformational work.  The City’s goal is to safeguard the health of our homeless population by getting as many off the street as possible and into shelter.”

Former Smuggler’s Inn Application

Fresno County, RH Community Builders, and UPholdings want to acquire and rehabilitate the Hotel Fresno (formerly the Smuggler’s Inn) on Blackstone and Dakota avenues to provide assistance to homeless people through Homekey. That’s the short-term goal. The long-term goal is to provide affordable housing for decades into the future.

“We’ve received our reserved award reservation,” RH Community Builders Executive Director Katie Wilbur tells GV Wire℠ by phone. “We’re in the process of doing our due diligence to move from reservation to award. We still don’t know the timeline though.”

The Homekey program is administered through the State Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency. “We’ve gotten requests for $1.06 billion out of the $600 million we have available for the program,” Deputy Secretary of Communications for the agency Russ Heimerich tells GV Wire℠ by phone. “We are still considering other projects and other applications.”

Applications for the Homekey program are due by September 29th. The money must be spent by those receiving the funding by December 30th.

County wants to turn the former Smuggler’s Inn into homeless housing and ultimately long-term affordable housing. (Fresno County)

 

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Trump Orders Nuclear Submarines Moved Near Russia

DON'T MISS

Fresno Councilmember Vang Accused of Conflict of Interest in Budget Vote

DON'T MISS

Ghislaine Maxwell Moved From Florida Prison to Lower-Security Facility

DON'T MISS

Trump Escalates Trade War With Canada Following Palestine Stance

DON'T MISS

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Scott Oscar Whitehead

DON'T MISS

‘Freedom Week’: California Gun Owners Rush to Buy Ammo After Court Ruling

DON'T MISS

Wall Street Selloff Sparked by Trump Tariffs, Amazon Results, Weak Payrolls

DON'T MISS

US Construction Spending Extends Decline in June

DON'T MISS

Global Shares in Red After US Jobs Data, Trump’s Tariff Salvo

DON'T MISS

US Envoy Witkoff Visits Aid Operation in Gaza Rejected by UN as Unsafe

UP NEXT

Ghislaine Maxwell Moved From Florida Prison to Lower-Security Facility

UP NEXT

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Scott Oscar Whitehead

UP NEXT

‘Freedom Week’: California Gun Owners Rush to Buy Ammo After Court Ruling

UP NEXT

Wall Street Selloff Sparked by Trump Tariffs, Amazon Results, Weak Payrolls

UP NEXT

US Construction Spending Extends Decline in June

UP NEXT

Global Shares in Red After US Jobs Data, Trump’s Tariff Salvo

UP NEXT

Visalia Road Project to Temporarily Shut Down Part of Caldwell Avenue

UP NEXT

Fresno Fire Displaces Family of Three, Pets Rescued

UP NEXT

Measure C Advisory Group Still Squabbling but Agrees on Mission Statement

UP NEXT

Adopt Eevee and She’ll Bring Sunshine Into Your Life

Trump Escalates Trade War With Canada Following Palestine Stance

57 minutes ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Scott Oscar Whitehead

2 hours ago

‘Freedom Week’: California Gun Owners Rush to Buy Ammo After Court Ruling

2 hours ago

Wall Street Selloff Sparked by Trump Tariffs, Amazon Results, Weak Payrolls

3 hours ago

US Construction Spending Extends Decline in June

3 hours ago

Global Shares in Red After US Jobs Data, Trump’s Tariff Salvo

3 hours ago

US Envoy Witkoff Visits Aid Operation in Gaza Rejected by UN as Unsafe

3 hours ago

Visalia Road Project to Temporarily Shut Down Part of Caldwell Avenue

3 hours ago

Trump Sets 10% to 41% ‘Reciprocal’ Tariffs on Dozens of Countries’ Exports

17 hours ago

Fresno Fire Displaces Family of Three, Pets Rescued

19 hours ago

Trump Orders Nuclear Submarines Moved Near Russia

President Donald Trump on Friday said he had ordered two nuclear submarines to be positioned in regions near Russia in response to threats f...

9 minutes ago

President Donald Trump speaks after disembarking Marine One, as he departs for Scotland, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., July 25, 2025. (Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein)
9 minutes ago

Trump Orders Nuclear Submarines Moved Near Russia

41 minutes ago

Fresno Councilmember Vang Accused of Conflict of Interest in Budget Vote

Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell stands at the podium to address Judge Alison Nathan during her sentencing in a courtroom sketch in New York City, U.S. June 28, 2022. (Reuters File)
46 minutes ago

Ghislaine Maxwell Moved From Florida Prison to Lower-Security Facility

President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney attend a meeting with G7 leaders and guests, at the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada, June 16, 2025. (Reuters File)
57 minutes ago

Trump Escalates Trade War With Canada Following Palestine Stance

Scott Oscar Whitehead is Valley Crime Stoppers' Most Wanted Person of the Day for August 1, 2025. (Valley Crimes Stoppers)
2 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Scott Oscar Whitehead

.25 Caliber Ammunition on the Counter at Big 5
2 hours ago

‘Freedom Week’: California Gun Owners Rush to Buy Ammo After Court Ruling

A Wall Street plate is seen on a street vendor stall outside the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., July 11, 2025. (Reuters/Jeenah Moon)
3 hours ago

Wall Street Selloff Sparked by Trump Tariffs, Amazon Results, Weak Payrolls

A construction worker is shown at work on a multi-unit residential housing project in Encinitas, California, U.S., July 28, 2025. (Reuters/Mike Blake)
3 hours ago

US Construction Spending Extends Decline in June

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend