Arcata House Partnership asks city to seek $2.9M to upgrade The Grove

Arcata House Partnership has developed a spending plan for roughly $2.9 million in state funding and asked the City of Arcata to file the application on its behalf to upgrade The Grove, AHP’s low-income housing complex in Arcata. The proposal lists reopening 12 currently unusable units, adding solar panels, installing an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant sidewalk and replacing the roof as primary projects tied to the funding request.

AHP assembled a slideshow with the spending breakdown and sent it to the Arcata city council and to local news outlets as part of its pitch. The slide deck names the scope of work at The Grove but does not include line-item dollar amounts for each component, nor does it identify the specific state funding program or an application deadline in the materials provided to the council.

Labor costs are a major driver of AHP’s estimate. Dr. Darlene Spoor, executive director of Arcata House Partnership, warned the council that “Much of the cost comes from paying the skilled laborers’ ‘prevailing wage,’ which Spoor estimates will raise expenses by 50%.” AHP’s budget rationale frames prevailing-wage requirements as the reason the roughly $2.9 million total is necessary to complete all listed repairs and upgrades.

AHP presented tenant and cost-avoidance arguments alongside the capital ask. The organization told the council that unhoused people end up costing the public more than if governments spent money to house them, and that “most (if not all) of the tenants, who have an average monthly income of $750, couldn’t afford to pay rent anywhere else,” making The Grove a unique stabilizing resource. AHP said investing in The Grove would multiply the stabilizing benefits it provides to tenants.

The state funding request is separate from a private grant AHP announced on Nov. 20, 2024. AHP received a $2.5 million grant from the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund to expand family shelter programs in Humboldt. On that grant, Dr. Spoor said, “Thanks to this generous funding, we are able to expand our shelter and provide more families experiencing homelessness with the support they need to regain their footing,” and she added, “It’s more than providing shelter; it’s about offering hope and stability to ensure that these families have the opportunity to heal, rebuild and thrive.” The press release cited a 2024 National Alliance to End Homelessness finding that families now represent more than 28 percent of the country’s homeless population.

AHP positioned its state-funding ask as an alternative to a city infrastructure project. The Grove repairs were presented to the council as a competing priority to replacing Arcata’s failing water meters, with both projects budgeted for roughly the same amount in AHP’s materials. The city council must now weigh whether to submit the state application on AHP’s behalf or advance the water meter replacement with equivalent dollars.

Key factual gaps remain in the public materials: the slideshow does not spell out exact line-item costs, the specific state grant program and deadline are not named, and the slides do not describe why the 12 units are unusable. Arcata House Partnership and the city council will need to produce the full budget worksheet, program application details and a timeline if the council agrees to proceed with the application.