SACRAMENTO – A six-month sprint to convert hotels, motels and other vacant buildings into homeless shelters has sheltered more than 8,000 people at a fraction of the cost of new buildings, state officials said Friday.

The home key program that was started last summer With funds from the federal coronavirus aid package, nearly $ 800 million has been given to dozen of California’s cities and counties to buy land and convert it into homes with supporting services by the end of 2020.

The grants ultimately produced 5,911 new units, including 1,627 in the Bay Area, according to a report by the California Department of Housing and Community Development.

Two acquisitions in San Francisco – the former Hotel Diva and the Granada Hotel, a single room building – created 342 units of permanent support housing. A representative from the Ministry of Homelessness and Supportive Housing said the Granada Hotel is about half full, while Hotel Diva is used for homeless people who will need shelter during the coronavirus pandemic and will move in May.

Alameda County turned two motels into 250 units, and Oakland used the funds to convert and buy a former dormitory more than a dozen single-family homes.

Officials said the speed and price at which they were able to complete the tags showed the promise of the approach. At an average of about $ 150,000 per unit, the homekey projects cost less than a third building a unit of affordable housing from scratch. Some suitable local and philanthropic funds helped meet the cost.

Governor Gavin Newsom is looking for $ 750 million in the state budget Extension of the program for an additional year and an additional $ 1 billion to apply the same model to mental health and elderly care facilities.

But Jason Elliott, Newsom’s senior advisor on housing and homelessness, admitted that the 8,264 people who were or are expected to be housed through Homekey as of February 1, represent only a fraction of the growing homeless in California.

New Data The study released by the state this week found that the number of people who became homeless in a single night in January 2020 had risen to 161,548, up nearly 7% year over year. Throughout the year, local providers said they served a total of 248,130 people.

“Six thousand units is great, but nowhere near enough,” said Elliott. “That’s why we’re going to double, triple and more in the home key program.”

Alexei Koseff is a contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle. E-mail: alexei.koseff@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @akoseff

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