RPM’s Relationship with CalTrans
After recent projects, RPM Team has been able to form a relationship with CalTrans. The relationship recently led CalTrans to reach out specifically to RPM Team as a critical player in the homeless services world, as one to be trusted to handle large-scale projects.
Division Circle Navigation Center
With the drastic increase in long-term homelessness among San Franciscans, a public health crisis was called to tackle the issue at hand. Attention to the homeless crisis is operating at all levels – even California Governor Gavin Newsom urged constituents to support the change in homeless treatment with the CARE Not Cash campaign in the mid 2010’s.
Starting in 2015, San Francisco's public works led the beginning of what could be a solution: the navigation center design. CalTrans leased a portion of land to San Francisco for all but $1, where David Renard began drafting up a plan to combine the construction and design elements for a safe and secure shelter for those experiencing homelessness. As a result, this project provides the public with access to intensive case management, healthcare services, and drug treatment programs. This is a departure from traditional homeless shelters, which are often overcrowded and lack the necessary resources to provide adequate care and management. The relationship between RPM and CalTrans thus began, building a solid bond, which led to opportunities down the road that continued to help our community for the better.
X Street Navigation Center
Plans for X Street Navigation Center began in 2019 in the City of Sacramento; here, RPM Team learned the nuances of building under state right-of-way and interstate overpasses, giving RPM a first time challenge of designing a shelter campus around maintenance infrastructure.
The road to approvals included a significant amount of back-and-forth, including agreements with federal administrators due to the economic nature of the lease transfer of land from CalTrans to the City. RPM Team’s crew remained patient, persistent, and driven toward the larger goal of making an impact on the community.
X Street Navigation Center
Today, X Street Navigation Center helps people transition from homelessness to permanent housing and has the ability to host 100 guests. The center offers life skills classes, recovery assistance, medical care, and financial counseling. Its energy-efficient insulation creates a comfortable interior, and the modular features offer cost effective showers and restrooms.
RPM Team went to necessary lengths for the goal of this project, only further serving to strengthen a working partnership with CalTrans.
Stockton Navigation Center Project
To continue battling the homelessness crisis, this new project brought RPM Team to the city of Stockton. The Stockton Navigation Center is a more complex site, landlocked between interstate overpasses, triggering federal approvals again. Pioneering a new building type using 42 stackable shipping containers three stories high, RPM Team made a new review program in concert with CalTrans, HCD, and the California State Fire Marshal. The first of its kind in California , the Navigation Center is being designed and built on pure state land, meaning no local authority has the jurisdiction to review the project. Once completed, guests will have access to sleeping quarters, showers, bathrooms, and laundry areas.
Foundation work for Stockton Navigation Center
RPM Team remains optimistic about the creative solutions, and a relationship with CalTrans has evolved into more opportunities to oversee projects that could further affect our community. RPM Team seeks continued growth in this partnership, working on a state level to create innovative solutions toward solving one of California’s most recognizable problems.
Exterior rendering of Stockton Navigation Center
Interior rendering of Stockton Navigation Center communal spaces
Interior rendering of Stockton Navigation Center lodging