SAN DIEGO (CNS) - The San Diego City Council Tuesday approved a $5.5 million loan for construction of an affordable-housing complex for homeless seniors in San Ysidro.
Funds for the loan will come from the city's $25 million Affordable Rental Housing Development Program pool, which is intended to leverage money from other public and private funding sources to spur development of mixed- income housing.
Nonprofit developer National Community Renaissance will build the three-story, 29,610 square-foot San Ysidro Senior Village Apartments building on a 1.25-acre plot at 517 W. San Ysidro Blvd.
Fifty studio units will provide permanent supportive housing to individuals who earn 30-50 percent of the area median income.
The complex will have a community room, supportive service counseling offices, laundry facilities, storage lockers and bike storage.
"This is how we solve the homelessness problem," City Councilman David Alvarez said. "These are going to be units for people who are in shelters, who need support systems in order to be successful to get out of homelessness."
Father Joe's Villages, the San Ysidro Health Center and Casa Familiar have been contracted to offer case management services at the complex. Each of the nonprofits has an office near the building's presumptive location, which also provides easy access to transit and other public resources.
The estimated project cost is $17.8 million, including $2.75 million for land purchasing.
Apart from the affordable housing loan, other funding includes roughly $10.65 million in state developer's tax credits, a $700,000 San Diego Housing Commission loan, a $310,000 private loan and a $114,000 Regional Transportation Congestion Management Improvement Program waiver.
