The County Board of Supervisors approved more affordable housing for seniors in the region today with the authorization of a 100-unit project using public land owned by the County of San Diego.

“In the face of truly alarming numbers of homeless seniors, we are using public land to create homes specifically for older San Diegans,” said Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer, Vice Chair of the Board of Supervisors. “Every senior should be able to age with dignity, and these homes will provide 100 aging San Diegans with an opportunity to live in a home they can afford.”

The San Diego region faces a severe and chronic shortage of affordable housing units that directly impacts housing insecurity and housing cost burden for lower-income households across San Diego County. Seniors are no exception and often find themselves more likely to spend more of their income on rent than other age groups because many live on fixed-incomes and are susceptible to the impacts of rent increases. 

The number of unsheltered homeless seniors has hovered above 25 percent since 2016 and the homeless population in the County remains one of the highest in the State. 

The project, to be developed by Wakeland Housing Corporation, will be located at a 7.86-acre property the County acquired in 2020 adjacent to the Ramona Intergenerational Community Campus (RICC). The property encompasses two parcels and extends from the shared property boundary with the County’s RICC parcels between 12th and 13th Streets to the Santa Maria Creek and Walnut Street to the northeast. Approximately 4 acres of site area is available for affordable senior group housing development, while the rest of the Property will become a community park. 

This development reserves all units for low-income seniors earning below 50 percent area median income, currently $48,250 for a one-person household and $55,150 for a two-person household.

Other components of the project will include approximately 1,800 square feet of commercial space for a senior center with a kitchen, to be open to the public, approximately 5,000 square feet for a PACE Medical Clinic and park improvements to be dedicated to the County upon completion

Nearly 69,000 units are needed regionally for very low, and low-income households according to the most recent Regional Housing Needs Assessment. 

Read the entire policy here.