San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer said Tuesday he is making eight city-owned properties available to developers to spur construction of roughly 200 new low-income housing units.
The city chose the eight properties after analyzing dozens of properties for their housing development potential and consulting with multiple San Diego City Council offices, officials said. The properties could potentially lead to the development of up to 198 housing units with supportive services like health assistance and help retaining housing.
"There's a big need for permanent supportive housing that provides on-site assistance to seniors, veterans and others who would otherwise struggle trying to live on their own," Faulconer said in a statement. "We've also identified sites in neighborhoods across the city to make sure every community is doing its fair share to address the housing crisis."
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Last October the City Council voted unanimously to set a goal of building at least 140 units of permanent supportive housing in each council district by January 2021. The resolution is non-binding.
The properties announced Tuesday are located in six of the council's nine districts. The city plans to formally issue a request for proposals on five of the properties next month and a second RFP on the remaining properties at a to-be-determined date. The city expects to present the winning proposals to the council later this year.
"Hopefully by the end of this year we'll have developers selected on a variety of those sites and they’ll be able to get started on those projects," said mayoral spokesman Greg Block. "We are 20,000 (housing) units short as a city, so we need to start building. We need to build housing at all levels."
