Developers are expected to tear down or convert into condos The Marshal, The Sequoia and other single-room-occupancy hotels within the year. And even though the city council recently approved an ordinance to help relocate the mostly elderly or disabled tenants, Scott Decker with the SRO Collaborative Project has his doubts. 

"I don’t know that the efforts to relocate people are going to be completely adequate given that there’s quite a bit of leeway in the relocation portion of the ordinance."

He says it’s great the city is willing to help tenants but the ordinance gives the city a 4-year window to develop new units after the SROs are torn down or converted.

Joan Burke – a homeless advocate with Loaves and Fishes – says some residents may slip through the cracks.  
 
"The trick is getting ahead of the curve. The Marshall is going to be the first to close, it’s 95 rooms. I don’t know if we’ll have that replacement housing on line in time."

She says The Marshall’s closure will be the first test of the ordinance requiring the city to develop an equal number of low-cost housing units, located close to services and transportation.