The opening of the new Thousand Oaks Thrive Grove Navigation Center has been delayed until February 2025, according to city officials.
According to the Dignity Moves website, Thousand Oaks partners in the project, Thrive Grove is going to be the city’s first interim housing community. Director of Strategic Communications and Public Affairs at the City of Thousand Oaks Alexandra South said the community will open with 30 units. South said that the community is being prepped to accommodate a phase two addition of 20 extra units. South said the addition of these extra units relies on extra funding being needed in the future.ย
โThe vision is to get people stable in their housing so they can receive the services they need to move into a permanent supportive housing situation,โ South said.ย
According to South, the city had originally hoped for an opening in December 2024, but now hopes for a February 2025 ribbon cutting — describing this opening date as โfluid.โย
โWe did experience a delay by the state, in the inspection process of the units themselves,โ South said. โSo HCD (California Department of Housing and Development) โ which is the state agency that oversees this type of build โ they had some very particular requirements and it took quite some time to meet those things.โย
South said these state delays caused other agencies to move ahead of Thousand Oaks in the line for approval.ย
Economic Development Analyst at the City of Thousand Oaks Dusty Russell said in an email interview that the state permit and approval process has been the main reason for the delay.ย
โThe city and our development partners have successfully navigated several challenges throughout the duration of the project, avoiding timeline and financial impacts, but not all impacts are avoidable,โ Russell said.ย
Russell and South said they donโt believe the delay will change anything about Thrive Grove’s future, only changing when it becomes available for residents.
โIt’s just pushing everything back a couple months, which is definitely disappointing, we were hoping to have the facility up and running by the holidays and unfortunately that’s just not going to be the case,โ South said.ย
ย According to South, the city expects Thrive Grove will be at full capacity โnearly right away.โย
Russell said Thousand Oaks has not been โimmuneโ to the nationwide increase in homelessness throughout recent years. Since Thousand Oaks has no interim housing resources, Russell said he believes Thrive Grove will be of great benefit to the community.ย
โThe Thrive Grove Navigation Center provides a new resource in our community that is more proactive, cost-effective, better for public safety, and reduces environmental impacts associated with encampments,โ Russell said.ย ย ย
Russell said the community will provide more than just housing, allowing residents to get connected to additional โwrap aroundโ services while helping them define an individualized path towards a permanent housing situation.
โThe benefits of this resource to the community are many,โ Russell said.
