Columbia Inn could be converted into housing for the homeless

Published 3:00 pm Thursday, October 27, 2022

Clatsop County may have found a site for an emergency shelter and transitional housing project: Columbia Inn in Astoria.

On Wednesday, the county Board of Commissioners authorized the county manager to sign a purchase and sale agreement for the property, located on Marine Drive near Fifth Street.

The property has 22 rooms and could house about 44 people, the county said in a statement.

Funding for the $2.4 million purchase will come from Project Turnkey 2.0, a state program that turns vacant or underused hotels and motels into bed space for vulnerable individuals.

The county would own the property, which would be operated by a nonprofit. Wraparound services would be provided on site.

In late 2020, the state Legislature created the original Project Turnkey with $65 million to help people facing homelessness, including those who had lost homes in wildfires. The investment resulted in 19 new shelters — totaling about 865 new shelter units — across 13 counties, according to the Oregon Community Foundation, which manages the program.

This year, the Legislature expanded the program, adding $50 million to convert another 10 or so properties.

The county applied the first time and was unsuccessful. The county tried again with Project Turnkey 2.0 and succeeded, though county staff did not identify a property or someone to operate it, Bohn said. The county worked with a broker, Brian Resendez of SVN Bluestone & Hockley in Portland, who reached out to a number of hoteliers.

Columbia Inn’s hotelier could not immediately be reached for comment.

The agreement between the county and the inn is nonbinding. If the Oregon Community Foundation deems the property unsuitable, or if the county has serious concerns, the project will not go forward, Bohn said.

“It is going to take a lot of stars to still align for this to move forward,” Bohn said. He added that “this is the first step, but I think it’s an important step.”

The county now enters a due-diligence process. This includes working with nonprofit providers — Clatsop Community Action, Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare, Helping Hands Reentry Outreach Centers, The Harbor and LiFEBoat Services — to identify an operator and set up an operations plan.

“Our work really begins now,” Bohn said.

The due-diligence process will have a community education element, but that will come into play after the county gets an assessment of the property, Bohn said.

“We need to make sure that OCF feels comfortable with the purchase potential before we engage very widely on it,” Bohn said.

Earlier this month, Astoria leaders announced they met with the county to discuss the project and the city’s needs.

Interim City Manager Paul Benoit, Mayor Bruce Jones and Police Chief Stacy Kelly had expressed support for the project.

Benoit said county leaders assured the city the shelter would be well managed and not devolve into a nuisance for the neighborhood.

“There is no question that shelter is desperately needed in the city and region and we all acknowledge that communities have a responsibility to work cooperatively on finding solutions,” Benoit said in an email. “Project Turnkey is one such solution.”

Jones applauded the county’s efforts.

“Having spent my entire four-year term urging the state and federal government to step up to the plate to support rural communities like ours with funding for shelter services, I’m gratified to see a solution finally in sight,” he said in a statement. “While no location will satisfy everyone, the Columbia Inn is close to services and transportation yet away from the downtown core and is the best available location.

“Providing safe shelter will reduce the number of people camping on our public land and put more unhoused people on a viable path to permanent housing.”

Clatsop County has had among the highest rates of homelessness per capita in the state.