Saint Clare at Capitol Park Hotel

Saint Clare at Capitol Park Hotel is a winner for the 2025 Preservation Design Award for Rehabilitation. Award recipients are selected by a jury of top professionals in the fields of architecture, engineering, planning, and history, as well as renowned architecture critics and journalists. Tickets and sponsorship options are available at californiapreservation.org/programs/awards/.

About Saint Clare at Capitol Park Hotel

The St. Clare, in the former Capitol Park Hotel, is a welcoming, safe, and a place of hope for Sacramento’s homeless community. The project, financed in part with Federal Historic Tax Credit funding, combines and rehabilitates two former hotel buildings (1911 and 1912 and combined into a single hotel in the 1930s) into134 one-bedroom apartments with community gathering spaces, on-site counseling offices, laundry facilities, and management offices in downtown Sacramento. The project includes five, sidewalk-accessible retail shops totaling 3,300 SF, a restored canopy, and new curb landscaping that assists with storm water management.

Many historic elements were retained, repaired, and minimally modified to meet code requirements. The façade was rehabilitated to it 1910s appearance, with double-paned, thermal and sound efficient windows replacing in-kind the original windows. Inside, the tile floor in the double-volume lobby was restored and public circulation was retained with entrance and path of travel modifications to provide accessibility.

Community Importance

Responding to the rapid increase in the number of individuals experiencing homelessness in Sacramento County (a 67% increase since 2019), the Client, a national nonprofit and one of the nation’s largest affordable housing organizations, partnered with the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency to create permanent supportive housing for individuals transitioning out of homelessness.

Rehabilitation of the Capitol Park Hotel-a decaying single-room occupancy hotel for decades before the start of the project-resulted in the creation of new affordable housing units that will improve the lives of 134 formerly unhoused individuals. About 50% of the units are designated for those with severe mental illness.

The St. Clare is a place where individual who have spent time on the streets can find fellowship, education, and a chance to start over. For the City of Sacramento, the rehabilitated buildings help to preserve an important part of the City’s history and architecture, while helping to revitalize the City’s urban core.

About CPF and the Awards

The California Preservation Awards are a statewide hallmark, showcasing the best in historic preservation. The awards ceremony includes the presentation of the Preservation Design Awards and the President’s Awards, bringing together hundreds of people each year to share and celebrate excellence in preservation.

The California Preservation Foundation (CPF), a 501c3 nonprofit, was incorporated in 1978. We now support a national network of more than 36,000 members and supporters. Click here to learn how you can become a member.