Lake Elsinore Eyes Downtown Property For Low-Income Housing

LAKE ELSINORE, CA — The city of Lake Elsinore is poised to purchase a former motel located at 215 West Graham Avenue in downtown that might be used to immediately house homeless people in the city.

During a regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday, the Lake Elsinore City Council will decide whether to approve buying the former 19-room facility situated on .82 acres for $2,250,000, not including closing costs.

If approved, the site could be used on an interim basis to immediately address homeless and transitional housing for those in need; the property would also help meet the city's longer-term goal of providing housing for extremely low-income people, city documents show.

Based on the city’s initial inspection of the buildings and land, some repairs to satisfy code requirements, including ADA compliance, are necessary. The estimated cost for the repairs is approximately $55,000, plus a 10% contingency, city documents show.

An outstanding delinquency of transient occupancy tax must also be paid in the amount of $155,000, according to the documents.

Tuesday's 7 p.m. city council meeting takes place at the Cultural Center, 183 N. Main St.; the meeting is available via livestream. For more viewing information, as well as the full meeting agenda and how to comment on meeting items, click here.

The 215 W. Graham Ave. property location: