A swimming pool buried beneath an old Anaheim motel has thrown a costly wrench into plans to turn the building into housing for young adults leaving foster care. Construction crews converting the Tampico Motel into permanent supportive housing discovered the improperly abandoned pool hidden under the structure, triggering soil remediation and a rebuild of the foundation and framing that added roughly $1 million to the project's price tag.
The Anaheim City Council responded by agreeing to issue roughly $712,000 in supplemental bonds to help close the resulting funding gap, according to Hey SoCal. The council also accepted a $500,000 grant from CalOptima Health, which the outlet identifies as the Orange County health authority, to help cover the shortfall. Anaheim's Housing Authority and city council approved the financing during a joint public hearing, the report notes.
An Unwelcome Discovery Beneath the Building
The pool discovery required demolition, remediation, and reconstruction of the foundation and structural framing.
Construction crews discovered the pool during the conversion. The unexpected work reportedly exhausted the project's contingency fund, leaving a funding gap of about $500,000 that the new bonds and grant were designed to close.
Who Pays the Bonds Back
Voice of OC has reported that the project's bonds are expected to be paid off through a 4% low-income housing tax credit issued by the state, along with rent collected from tenants. The supplemental bond adjustment was also described as preserving that underlying tax-credit financing structure. Separately, Hey SoCal reported that Wells Fargo is funding enhanced supportive services at the site for 15 years.
Housing for Young Adults Leaving Foster Care
The Tampico Motel sits at 151 S. Cenpla Way, formerly addressed as 120 S. State College Blvd., and is being converted into permanent supportive housing for young adults exiting the foster system, according to Hey SoCal's reporting. Jamboree Housing describes the project as serving young adults ages 18 to 24 who have been through foster care or are experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness. Jamboree emphasizes that the development is not a shelter — it is permanent housing, and residents, like tenants anywhere else, will sign leases.
Sources differ on the project's exact unit count. Hey SoCal's report describes the conversion as including 31 supportive units plus one manager's unit, while an Anaheim city agenda describes it as a 32-unit permanent supportive rental housing development. Voice of OC reported that the project involved approximately $13.1 million in tax-exempt bonds, with up to $3 million in taxable bonds if costs exceeded the budget; how that financing relates to the roughly $712,000 in supplemental bonds the council approved this week is unclear.
Conflicting Accounts on Cost and Timeline
Anaheim acquired the property in April 2023, according to the Los Angeles Times and Voice of OC. The Times separately estimated the conversion's total development cost at about $26 million, though it is unclear how the newly disclosed pool-related expenses factor into that earlier estimate. Voice of OC reported that state Senator Tom Umberg secured $5.5 million in state funds for the project, which was expected to be finished in September 2026.
Part of a Broader Anaheim Strategy
Jamboree Housing describes the Tampico project as part of a motel conversion program.
Voice of OC has described motel-to-housing conversions as a broader regional strategy, noting that cities including Stanton and Costa Mesa have pursued similar transformations in recent years. In Costa Mesa, a former Motel 6 was converted into 87 homes for veterans, low-income seniors, and people at risk of or experiencing homelessness, with onsite services including mental-health support, per Voice of OC. The hidden pool beneath the Tampico site stands as a reminder of how unpredictable these conversions of aging motel buildings can be, even as more Orange County cities pursue the model.
