Millbrae’s La Quinta Inn at 1390 El Camino Real.
A letter requesting the county rescind its offer to purchase the La Quinta Inn and Suites was approved by the Millbrae City Council with additional verbiage recommendations at a special meeting Aug. 27.
It comes on the heels of the Department of Housing and Community Development’s denial of Project Homekey funds for the proposed project — which county officials say is intended to provide housing for formerly homeless families and seniors — citing a lack of site control.
This was the final funding round for Project Homekey, a statewide investment in housing solutions for the homeless through the purchase of hotels, multifamily apartments or other buildings.
“Now that Homekey funding is no longer available and wasn’t awarded, we believe it makes sense for the City Council to submit a letter to the Board of Supervisors requesting that the county withdraw their offer,” City Manager Tom Williams said during the meeting.
The letter, signed by all three members of the city council — two were recalled in a July 23 special election over a lack of support for the city’s stance on La Quinta issue — asks the Board of Supervisors to rescind its September 2023 vote to purchase the property.
It also cites the legal claim by the city that the purchase violates Article 34 of the California Constitution — which makes it so any public agency looking to develop or acquire low-income housing must gain the approval of a majority of voters to do so — as well as financial concerns over hotel tax loss if the La Quinta is converted.
“While we believe that the acquisition and rehabilitation of existing, underutilized properties is one of many solutions towards the production of affordable housing, it must be done in a manner that is financially responsible and does not interfere with productive and viable businesses that contribute to local revenues,” the letter reads.
Councilmembers encouraged Williams to emphasize the financial uncertainty a lack of resolution to the La Quinta issue is creating for residents.
“This has just gone on long enough. The people who work in the hotel, all 38 families who work in the hotel and the restaurant and small business owner, need to be able to move on and plan their lives around it,” Mayor Anders Fung asked Williams to articulate. “They can no longer live in the shadow of this cloud of unknown.”
The owners of La Quinta themselves have expressed on no uncertain terms that they want to sell the hotel, although they weren’t referenced in Fung’s list of impacted parties.
Williams said he would include other councilmember suggestions, including inclusion of Millbrae’s being the fastest-growing city in the county and tenth-fastest in the state. He also will include a request for a funding source for re-establishment of the now-defunct airport hotel shuttle and consideration of small business revenue loss during the past year.
The letter concluded by emphasizing Millbrae’s commitment to affordable housing, including recent approval of 97 units of affordable housing on Broadway.
“Our agencies should not be working in opposition to one another when we share such an urgent, common goal,” the letter read.
(650) 344-5200 ext. 105
(650) 344-5200 ext. 105
Daily Journal staff
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