SAN JOSE — The Santa Clara Inn, a hotel police say is a hub for criminal activity, will soon be used to temporarily house 27 homeless people in nearly half of its rooms.

The City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to fund the acquisition of the Santa Clara Inn, located at 2188 The Alameda, for what’s slated to become the second motel conversion under a program adopted by city leaders in 2014.

The “master lease program” allows the city to work with nonprofits and other partners to acquire “underutilized” hotels or motels to convert into transitional homeless housing.

Under the proposal approved Tuesday, 49 percent of the inn’s 56 units — or 27 rooms — will be set aside to house the homeless. The city’s housing department will loan $8.6 million to Abode Services, a Fremont-based nonprofit, to acquire the building and run the transitional housing program for up to 10 years.

The remaining 29 units may also be used for future homeless housing, city officials said.

It’s an unconventional approach to solving homelessness, but with nearly 4,000 people sleeping on city streets and shelters amid a housing crunch, city leaders acknowledged the need to get creative.

“I’m supporting this because it’s less expensive than building housing from scratch,” said Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio, whose district includes the Santa Clara Inn.

It’s an unusual move for Oliverio — whose voting record reflects opposition to low-income housing because it “pays zero in property taxes forever” — to support the proposal. But the longtime councilman said the city needs solutions for homelessness.

San Jose has an estimated 4,063 homeless persons. About 69 percent are unsheltered while the others live in encampments or shelters, according to the 2015 homeless survey.

Monica Nguyen, a Vietnam native who’s lived in San Jose since 1992, became homeless after her rent went up three months ago. She sat on the sidewalk near St. James Park last week, shielding herself from the 30-degree temperatures.

“San Jose isn’t doing enough,” said Nguyen, 55. “Why don’t they have a place for us to stay at night? Everywhere we go, they kick us out.”

Jacky Morales-Ferrand, the city’s housing director, said the Santa Clara Inn units can house one to two people until they find permanent housing — however long that takes.

“It’s already set up to house people, and it’s in good condition, so we can move people in quickly,” Morales-Ferrand, said. “The hotel had a high level of police calls, and by the city working with someone to take it over, we’re hoping we can improve the overall performance of the property.”

The Santa Clara Inn is one of five motels with the highest amount of reported criminal activity, said police Sgt. Enrique Garcia. There were 202 calls for service in five years, and 24 percent of the reported incidents resulted in an arrest or citation. Incidents included public disturbances, narcotics and prostitution.

As part of the plan, Abode Services would provide case management to the residents and address property management issues, such as repairs, security and maintenance.

City officials estimate some 2,000 people have a housing subsidy but can’t find a place to live because of Silicon Valley’s skyrocketing rents and shrinking housing supply.

The rooms are estimated to cost $50 a night, but the homeless residents would pay whatever they can afford.

At the end of the 10-year term, Abode Services will either sell the property or keep ownership and refinance any remaining debt to pay off the city’s loan.

The Santa Clara Inn is the second San Jose hotel being turned into homeless housing. The City Council in September approved a plan to acquire the shuttered Plaza Hotel to create temporary apartments for the homeless for five years.

The 46-unit property, once owned by the city redevelopment agency, is now in the hands of its successor agency. That agency’s board is scheduled to consider a request to sell the hotel to the city later this month.

But some advocates for the homeless say the hotel conversions won’t house enough people.

“Even if you were able to take over the Fairmont, it wouldn’t be enough,” said Robert Aguirre, a founder of the advocacy group H.O.M.E.L.E.S.S. “You need permanent housing, temporary housing and legal encampments.”

Contact Ramona Giwargis at 408-920-5705 and follow her at Twitter.com/ramonagiwargis.