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HomeMy WebLinkAboutattachment5/12/23, 12:25 PM When San Jose lost out on $10M from T.J. Rodgers for a tiny home community - Silicon Valley Business Journal https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2023/05/11/tale-of-2-tiny-homes-projects-involving-tj-rodgers.html?s=print 1/4 SUBSCRIBER CONTENT: When San Jose lost out on $10M from T.J. Rodgers for a tiny home community May 11, 2023, 3:42pm PDT Valeeta Massey A tiny home community funded by T.J. Rodgers in his hometown of Oshkosh, Wis. T.J. Rodgers thinks efforts he made to help the homeless in the two places he calls home are good examples of how things should and should not get done. FOR THE EXCLUSIVE USE OF BRENNA_BOLGER@PRXDIGITAL.COM From the Silicon Valley Business Journal: https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2023/05/11/tale-of- 2-tiny-homes-projects-involving-tj-rodgers.html 5/12/23, 12:25 PM When San Jose lost out on $10M from T.J. Rodgers for a tiny home community - Silicon Valley Business Journal https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2023/05/11/tale-of-2-tiny-homes-projects-involving-tj-rodgers.html?s=print 2/4 The first one was in San Jose after the city bulldozed a homeless encampment in December 2014. “They bulldozed where people were living and threw their stuff in a garbage truck,” Rodgers said. After doing some research, Rodgers learned of a way to build low cost “tiny homes” using pre-fabricated building materials. So he contacted Sam Liccardo, just after he became mayor of San Jose, to offer to build 100 tiny homes at a cost of about $10 million. “I had two things I needed from him,” Rodgers said. “They needed to provide the land and keep the planning department off of my back.” Shortly afterwards, Rodgers said he got a call asking if he would instead donate the $10 million so that the city could buy land for a future homeless project. “I said no, I want to build the houses and avoid the bureaucracy and you need to provide the land,” he said. That was the end of discussions. Looking back nine years later, Liccardo said Rodgers’ offer was generous but ill-timed. The city didn’t own any property that could be used, there was no city building code for tiny homes at that time and a state law paving the way for them didn’t come until 2016. “Getting a site and getting it approved for a project like that is the hardest part,” said Liccardo this week. “We have built tiny homes and dorms for people who need shelter since then but it wasn’t possible when T.J. made his offer.” Rodgers said he doesn’t blame Liccardo so much as the planning bureaucracy and difficulty in overcoming neighborhood resistance. “The bureaucracy serves the people who are fine with the homeless having nowhere to live,” he said. Two years ago, Rodgers learned that there were homeless people in the Oshkosh, Wisconsin area where he was born and grew up. Rodgers offered to pay $2.8 million to build 32 tiny homes and a community center to house struggling families. “When I talked to the city manager there he only asked who would take care of the homes after they were built,” Rodgers said, adding he partnered with a local nonprofit to run the community, which will be completed this summer. 5/12/23, 12:25 PM When San Jose lost out on $10M from T.J. Rodgers for a tiny home community - Silicon Valley Business Journal https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2023/05/11/tale-of-2-tiny-homes-projects-involving-tj-rodgers.html?s=print 3/4 Rodgers said the two experiences exemplify how to get things done. “In Oshkosh the project was accelerated and in San Jose it was blocked ... It is the difference between using planning to make sure things get done right versus using planning as a weapon to make you do things I want. Cromwell Schubarth TechFlash Editor - Silicon Valley Business Journal © 2023 American City Business Journals. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated April 18, 2023) and Privacy Policy (updated January 24, 2023). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of American City Business Journals. Back to Top  User Agreement   |  Privacy Policy   |  Ad Choices   |   Your Privacy Choices