The San Diego Housing Commission celebrated a "virtual groundbreaking" Wednesday for a development that will provide more than 190 affordable rental apartments for families and seniors in the Mid-City area.
Mid-City Family Apartments and Mid-City Senior Apartments will be built as adjoining buildings located near the intersection of Fairmount Avenue and El Cajon Boulevard — an area that encompasses the Kensington-Talmadge and City Heights neighborhoods of San Diego.
The development will create 115 affordable one-bedroom apartments for seniors, 77 affordable rental apartments for families, and three managers' units. The affordable apartments will remain affordable for 55 years for households earning up to 60% of the San Diego Area Median Income — currently $55,440 per year for a two-person household and $69,300 per year for a family of four.
The commission awarded a loan of more than $6.75 million for the construction of Mid-City Senior Apartments. The loan consists of $5 million from San Diego's Affordable Housing Fund and $1.75 million from the federal HOME Investment Partnerships Program.
The commission also authorized the issuance of up to $46 million in tax-exempt multifamily housing revenue notes and $5.5 million in taxable notes toward the creation of the apartments.
Formerly known as the East Block apartments, the buildings are being built by the Chelsea Investment Corp. on behalf of the Price Philanthropies Foundation, which donated the land and contributed funding.
All residents, regardless of age, will have access to on-site services from Serving Seniors, a nonprofit organization that provides meals, health and wellness services, housing, learning opportunities and more to low-income San Diego residents 60 and older.
"This is what we need to be doing is making real-live communities and not just sort of isolating folks into either families or seniors or youth but bringing folks together like the real community," said Serving Seniors President Paul Downey.
Monthly rents for the two- and three-bedroom family apartments will range from approximately $1,200 to $1,600, while rents for the one-bedroom senior apartments will range from approximately $750 to $1,200 per month.
All units include central heating and air, fully equipped kitchens and window coverings.
The total development cost is approximately $81 million. Additional funding and financing include $4.5 million from San Diego County's Innovative Housing Trust Fund, Price Philanthropies Foundation, tax credit equity from the US Bancorp Community Development Corp. and construction loans from Citi Community Capital.
The development is scheduled to be completed in mid-2022. Approximately six months before the completion, prospective residents can register their interest at aptsinsocal.com.
