San Diego Thursday opened The Helm, an affordable housing development with 77 units built in collaboration with the San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC).
Developed by Affirmed Housing in collaboration with SDHC and additional partners, The Helm transformed a former parking lot in the Cortez Hill neighborhood into 77 studios that will remain affordable for 55 years and one manager's unit, a housing commission statement reads.
"This is helping to address what I believe is the biggest challenge in our city and in our region," Mayor Todd Gloria said. "It's a crisis of a lack of affordable housing and it's corresponding impacts on homelessness. Obviously, we don't have enough housing; we have too much homelessness.
"This is how you address it — providing housing that people can actually afford," he said. "This is 77 units of additional housing in our community in a transit-oriented environment near downtown with rents that are sustainable and affordable to some of the lowest incomes in our community, many of whom were formerly homeless."
A total of 32 units at The Helm are set aside for San Diegans with extremely low income, up to 30% of the Area Median Income, $28,950 a year for a one-person household.
The housing commission awarded 32 federal rental housing vouchers to help pay rent for the residents with extremely low income. These vouchers are tied to the units. When a resident moves on, the voucher remains with the property to help another income-eligible household.
SDHC also awarded a loan of around $4.2 million to develop The Helm. The loan consists of funds SDHC administers from the city of San Diego's Affordable Housing Fund.
The Helm also includes four units for residents with income up to 60% of AMI, $57,900 for a one-person household, and 41 units affordable for individuals with income up to 80% of AMI, or $77,200 per year for a one-person household.
According to the housing commission, on-site services include adult educational, health and wellness and skill-building classes. Amenities include a multipurpose room, a lounge, a clubhouse, a courtyard, bicycle storage room and a common-area laundry room.
Trolley and bus stops are within one-third of a mile of the site.
Financing for the development included 4% low-income housing tax credits, which California State Treasurer Fiona Ma's office administers.
Additional financing partners included the California Housing Finance Agency, US Bank and the California Community Reinvestment Corporation.
