On Tuesday, Chula Vista celebrated the official opening of a new 210-unit affordable housing complex.
Chula Vista Mayor Mary Salas says the new units will provide desperately needed relief for the community.
"We need more (housing)," Salad said. "The simple fact is we need more affordable housing for our families, so many are being priced out of the market"
The new complex is part of the Millenia development in Otay Ranch. In all, it has 210 units. The "Volta" complex has 123 units for low-income seniors, while "Duetta" has 87 units for low-income families.
Antonio Marrosu is originally from Mexico and moved into a one-bedroom unit two weeks ago.
"This is like a dream because I never think that the place gonna be this quiet in the morning," said Marrosu. "You can walk around, no problem, no traffic. It's very nice."
Marrosu said he wanted to move here to be closer to his family. He found affordable housing can be hard to find.
"All the places where we were looking before, they have a waiting list like 8 years or 10 years," he said. "That's crazy."
The units already have a 10-year waiting list. To qualify, a resident must make 1 1/2-times their rent.
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One bedroom apartments start at $759 while three bedroom units go for up to $1,263. The property's developers said that this is nearly half of the current market value, and will stay discounted for at least 55 years.
"We don't want this to come offline in 55 years," said Salas. "Because in the life of a city 55 years is really not a long time."
Residents started moving in at the beginning of October. Residents are currently on one-year leases, and the only utility they have to pay is electricity. Property management said they hope to have everyone in by the end of November.
