San Diego’s Sandford Hotel, an affordable housing facility for seniors, has been rededicated after undergoing a multimillion-dollar facelift.
Jerry Lohla of the San Diego Housing Commission said the hotel’s 129 subsidized one-room apartments fill an important niche for seniors.
“The Hotel Sandford is really a step between homeless and market-rate housing. Like most of what the housing commission does, it is intended for residents who meet an income qualification level. In other words, their annual income is no greater than a certain amount for an individual,” Lohla said.
The San Diego Housing Commission bought and restored the structure for about $12 million. Prior to this project, the hotel had gone nearly 25 years without major improvements.
San Diego Interim Mayor Todd Gloria said restoring the building preserves a landmark, and allows the hotel to be a part of the city’s strategy to provide affordable homes in the nation’s second most-expensive housing market.
“We have the preservation of a historic structure, one that we would want to keep in our inventory of buildings in the community. Its been repurposed for a great social use which is the provision of affordable housing for senior citizens in this community,” Gloria said.
The nearly 100-year-old hotel was built a year before the Panama California Exposition in Balboa Park, and is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
