San Jose and VTA officials have broken ground on a new interim housing site in the northern part of the city that will transform a lot at the transit agency’s Cerone Yard into a 200-unit tiny home community before the end of this year.
Elected officials championed the project Thursday and lauded the partnership with VTA — which will see the city lease the multiple acres of land off of Zanker Road for the next five years — as it looks to make meaningful progress in reducing unsheltered homelessness and build out its shelter portfolio.
“If it takes this long to open 200 beds for those who are suffering and far too often dying on our streets, we are not moving with the urgency this crisis demands,” San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said. “The Cerone interim housing site is proof that when we push, when we fight for urgency and when we refuse to back down, we can create safe, dignified places for people to call home. But it also serves as a reminder of how much work we still have to do to streamline projects like this and other solutions to the crisis on our streets.”…