After months of delays, the city of Greensboro is distancing itself from Step Up on Second, the organization it tapped to convert the Regency Inn into housing for the chronically homeless.
One city councilmember said he'd "never seen anything as poorly facilitated as this project" in the wake of repeated missed deadlines. Yet, the city's partners on the project pitched an expansion at Tuesday's meeting.
Greensboro officials have publicly expressed support for Step Up on Second, the city’s partner on a permanent supportive housing project, even after the group became embroiled in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit. But public records reviewed by WFDD paint a more complex picture of the city’s response and relationship with the organization.
Greensboro officials are standing by their partnership with Step Up on Second, a nonprofit organization recently named in a $100 million lawsuit filed by the state of California. The company is involved in a project to convert a Greensboro motel into permanent supportive housing for people struggling with chronic homelessness.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta claimed in a civil lawsuit filed in LA County Superior Court that Shangri-La Industries illegally put developments in the state's Project Homekey homeless housing program under threat by borrowing against them.