Enacting a strategy backed by Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer, five affordable housing projects on County-owned property are moving forward today following a vote by the County Board of Supervisors. 

“We are leveraging all of the County resources possible to speedup production of affordable housing, keep renters in their homes, and make the dream of homeownership more accessible,” said Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer, vice chair of the Board of Supervisors.

The residential developments will be located on County-owned land located in Ramona, as well as the Chollas View, Downtown, Grantville, and Talmadge communities in the City of San Diego. 

The Board also signed off on establishing a temporary Safe Parking program at the Grantville site for people experiencing homelessness, which would operate while that housing project is being simultaneously developed. 

In recent years, the County has made significant progress to develop affordable housing on County-owned excess property. There are currently eleven properties in various stages of development on County land that will produce over 2,100 affordable homes for low-income families and older adults. The vote today supported some of the necessary steps that are required for development of five of those eleven sites. 

In Ramona, approximately 100 homes for low-income older adults will be built at the site of the Ramona Intergenerational Community Campus. The development will also include a senior center, medical clinic, and community park.

In Downtown’s Cortez Hill neighborhood, approximately 126 affordable homes for low-income families and older adults will be built at 1501/1555 Sixth Avenue, with a groundbreaking planned for early 2025. 

In Chollas View, the Board authorized a development agreement with Affirmed Housing Group to build affordable homes at 4588 Market Street.

At the former home of the Central Regional Public Health Center at 5202 University Avenue in Talmadge, affordable housing will be built adjacent to Casa Colina, an affordable housing development owned and operated by the San Diego Housing Commission. At the Board’s direction, County staff is evaluating the feasibility of conveying the site to the Housing Commission for the development of affordable housing. Staff plans to return to the Board for all necessary approvals in 2025.

In Grantville, the Board authorized a development agreement with Wakeland Housing to build affordable homes at 6255 Mission Gorge Road. 

The Board also took actions to authorize the creation of a Safe Parking program at the Granville site, which was determined to be a feasible interim use. In March, the County was awarded funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to temporarily run a Safe Parking program here with approximately 20 parking spaces. This program will operate while the affordable housing project is in the planning process and will not impact the development on this property.

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