Hotel Churchill

SDHC and HDP are partnering to renovate the historic Hotel Churchill to create 72 affordable studios for homeless individuals. This renovation is among the five components of Housing First–San Diego, SDHC’s three-year homelessness action plan to create additional affordable housing with supportive services.

The rehabilitation project will set aside 56 units for homeless Veterans, eight units for youth aging out of the foster care system, and eight units for homeless adults who also need supportive services. The Hotel Churchill will include on-site social services and case management for residents.

The second through six floors were gutted in order to reconfigure the space into larger rooms. The seventh floor was determined to be structurally unsound and will be completely removed and rebuilt to current building code. On the first floor, the former front desk will become a security station, and a library will be included in the common area. The basement will have office space and a conference room for service providers, laundry, and storage facilities and. The building will also have a seismic retrofit that will include the first application of viscous dampers in a historic building in San Diego.

The Hotel Churchill’s 73 units (including one manager’s unit) will be affordable to tenants with incomes at or below 60 percent of San Diego Area Median Income (AMI). The units are required to remain affordable for varying periods of up to 65 years.

Built in 1914, The Hotel Churchill is at the corner of Ninth Avenue and C Street, in the eastern part of downtown San Diego along the San Diego Trolley line. SDHC acquired title to the property through foreclosure. HDP will manage the development.