New 3D-printed housing development will soon help address homelessness in San Luis Obispo
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – An innovative 3D-printed housing development that will serve as a new supportive housing community in San Luis Obispo will soon begin construction.
This week, leaders with the City of San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo County, along with project partners DignityMoves, Azure Printed Homes, and Good Samaritan Shelter celebrated a "ground planting," to mark the start of the construction process for "Welcome Home Village."
Over the next several months, Welcome Home Village will be built at the corner of Johnson Avenue and Bishop Street on what is currently the Bishop Medical Plaza parking lot.
"It will include 14 interim support units and 40 permanent supportive housing units," said Margaret Shepard-Moore, Welcome Home Village Director. "When it's all filled, we'll have 54, residents here and they'll be receiving services from case management to medical coordination, substance use disorder counseling, mental health counseling. There will be a property manager on site, so it'll all be right here on this property in just a few short months."
Residents will share facilities, such as laundry areas, landscaped open space, and other multiple community spaces, including work-study areas and private offices for meetings with case managers and other service professionals.
Services will be provided by Good Samaritan Shelter, which has partnered to help create three similar projects in Santa Barbara County.
Good Samaritan Shelter case managers and support professionals from will assist residents navigate services, rebuild their lives, and move toward long-term housing stability.
"It really is that lock on the door gives people such a sense of dignity and belonging and privacy, which is really what our folks that are unsheltered are looking for," saidKirsten Cahoon, Good Samaritan Homeless Services Director. "We've known that non-congregate sheltering is really the best practice model for folks that have been chronically homeless. Most of the folks that we see in these models have been homeless for three plus years, and have really not felt comfortable coming into a congregate shelter model. Congregate shelter models are amazing for families and folks that self resolve a little quicker and are still full on all of our campuses, but this is just a different model that is really focused at folks that have been homeless for a longer period of time."
Welcome Home Village is intended to serve individuals experiencing homelessness in the Bob Jones Bike Trail encampment area.
"The funds that are allowing this project to be built are from what are called encampment resolution funds from the state of California," said Shepard-Moore. "Our particular village is specifically to address the Bob Jones bike trail, so the outreach workers are targeting that area and the individuals who are camping in that area, and there are even some funds that are included to help remediate and bring the Bob Jones bike trail back to a place where people want to go enjoy and walk."
A key component of the project is the 3D technology that will used to build the homes, which will, according to project partners, reduce costs and accelerate delivery.
Gardena-based Azure Printed Homes said each home will be built through recycling approximately 150,000 recycled plastic bottles.
Azure added its homes can be built 70% faster and 30% less expensive than traditional construction methods.
"This is so unique and so innovative," said Cahoon. "We are so excited that we're able to partner with Azure Printed Homes. We've never worked with them in the past on one of these projects, but to have 3D printed homes that are being manufactured out of recycled plastic water bottles is just mind blowing to me. They do such incredible work and we're really excited to see what their houses turn out like and knowing that we're doing something good for the environment and having sustainable housing is very exciting."
Construction on the project is expected to start within a few days and finish sometime late this year or in early 2026.
"Welcome Home Village represents what’s possible when we pair innovation with urgency," said Elizabeth Funk, DignityMoves CEO. "We’re proving that we can move faster, build smarter, and meet people where they are—without sacrificing quality. DignityMoves is proud to be part of this transformational project, a bold step forward and a model for what’s possible across California."
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