City of Asheville issued the following announcement on Dec. 11.
December 13, Shangri-La Industries and Step Up, with the support of the City of Asheville, broke ground on the former Ramada, providing 113 units of permanent supportive housing for people experiencing homelessness in Asheville.
The property, located at 148 River Ford Parkway, will create 113 studio apartments, half of which will be dedicated to unhoused Veterans and the other half to the unhoused community of Asheville. Last December, City Council approved $1.5M to fund the first three years of supportive services, making this project possible.
The project, led by Shangri-La Industries, a fully integrated real estate firm, and Step Up on Second Street, represents a unique and significant investment in the community to meet the growing challenge of tackling the homelessness crisis. Permanent supportive housing is an effective and successful approach that provides permanent housing solutions and onsite service support to ensure success for its residents.
“The conversion of the former Ramada reflects our deep commitment to creating housing solutions for all Asheville residents,” said Mayor Esther Manheimer. “This partnership will transform lives while giving necessary access to services Veterans and our unhoused community most desperately need.”
“Conversion of this property will bring critical housing solutions to our most vulnerable population,” said City Manager Debra Campbell. “We are proud to work alongside Shangri-La and Step Up, bringing this important investment to the City of Asheville.”
“The only solution to homelessness is to create permanent supportive housing,” said Andy Meyers, CEO of Shangri-La. “This project is a testament to what we can do when government and private industries come together to solve complex problems and deliver services to our communities.”
“The renovation of the former Ramada will provide much-needed permanent housing for individuals who have been living on the streets of Asheville. This housing model, which provides onsite intensive support services to each tenant is a well proven model to solve homelessness in communities across the country, just like Asheville,” said Tod Lipka, Step Up’s President & CEO.
The partnership between Shangri-La and Step Up enables the community to benefit from wrap-around services while expanding affordable housing opportunities and improving the quality of life for underserved communities. Shangri-La Industries has delivered more than 2,000 affordable housing units throughout California and is quickly expanding to extend services throughout the country.
Original source can be found here.
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