Riverside's Housing and Human Services Department updated the Housing and Homelessness Committee on Monday on the city's affordable housing pipeline and homelessness action plan — as advocates and residents urged officials to pick up the pace.
City Housing Authority project manager Agripina Neubauer told the committee the city has 401 affordable units in the pipeline, including 336 traditional affordable units, 24 permanent supportive housing units and 41 transitional housing units. Approximately 90 of those are expected to come online by the end of 2026, with 49 more in 2027 and 262 in 2028 or later.
During public comment, Ward 3 resident Dan Hoxworth displayed state Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) data he said had been presented to the full City Council in March. According to Hoxworth, the city has completed just 47 of the 4,861 very-low-income housing units required by the state's 2029 deadline — less than 1% of the goal. He said the city has reached 9.3% of its low-income target and 8.2% of its moderate-income goal, while nearing 41% of its above-moderate-income target. "We have a lot of work to do in Riverside," Hoxworth told the committee.
Among the projects Neubauer highlighted: Mulberry Gardens, a 59-unit senior affordable housing complex at 2524 Mulberry St. in Ward 1 developed by Eden Housing, is under construction near the 91 Freeway's Spruce Street offramp. Applications for senior units will be accepted starting summer 2026. Some units will be reserved for people referred through the city's homeless prevention programs. A separate phase of 150 affordable family housing units is planned for the same site.
Also in Ward 2, The Place at 2800 Hulen Place — a 31-unit permanent housing facility operated by Riverside University Health Systems Behavioral Health — is under construction and was expected to be complete this month. In Ward 7, Sunrise at Bogart, a 22-unit permanent supportive housing development at 11049 Bogart Ave. by Neighborhood Partnership Housing Services, broke ground July 2, 2025.
The committee also received an update on the city's Homeless Action Plan, a 2022 framework. Megan Stoye of the Housing and Human Services Department gave the committee a "report card" on the plan's progress. She said the city has met some benchmarks — including a 5% increase in affordable housing inventory and an 84% rental assistance retention rate — but is still falling short on reducing the number of unsheltered individuals. The unsheltered count has risen slightly, from 605 to 614, between 2023 and 2025.
Stoye said the department serves 3,779 existing affordable housing units and, in the first half of the current fiscal year, provided emergency shelter to 339 individuals, rapidly rehoused 129 clients and made street outreach contacts with more than 3,200 people.
Family Promise of Riverside executive director Claire Jefferson-Glipa urged the committee to do more. "The fact that our goal toward decreasing homelessness has not been met is not at all a reflection of the hard work" of city staff, she said, calling on elected officials to take a more creative approach.
A point of contention at the meeting was the Housing Authority-owned duplex at 2348 University Ave., which staff proposed demolishing and rebuilding as affordable housing. That item was pulled from the April 7 City Council consent calendar after Councilmember Philip Falcone raised questions about whether demolition was the best use of the site. Committee Chair Clarissa Cervantes said she was frustrated by the delay, noting the city had weighed options for the property over five years before settling on demolition. Staff said the item will return to the full council for a vote, though no date has been set.
Hoxworth returned during public comment on the homelessness action plan to raise the University Terrace Homes controversy, claiming the city forfeited $20 million in state funding when the council rejected that project, which he said would have housed 94 individuals in permanent supportive housing. He also claimed that nearby Redlands opened a comparable 100-unit permanent supportive housing project and reduced its homeless population by 30% each of the past two years — figures the Gazette has not independently verified. He said approximately 252 homeless individuals in Riverside are currently on a waiting list seeking housing, attributing that figure to someone named Michelle Davis, though he did not identify her role or affiliation.
Councilmember Steven Robillard echoed concerns about Riverside bearing a disproportionate share of the county's homeless services burden. "We can't be relied upon for the entire county to house the homeless population of the county," he said, calling for a more regional approach.
Cervantes said she intends to bring back portions of the Homeless Action Plan for deeper discussion at future meetings and floated inviting the county's Continuum of Care to present on regional resources and housing pipelines.
