In a first for the County, officials broke ground on a surplus property that will transform an empty lot into a site for low-income affordable housing.
Thursday’s groundbreaking marks the start of construction for the Levant Street Cottages in the Linda Vista neighborhood of the City of San Diego. The site once housed a County Child Welfare Services building.
The cottages will go up on a 4.57-acre plot of land and include 127 independent living and affordable senior housing units expected to house 150 people. At least 20% of the units will go toward seniors with 50% or less of the area median income. The rest will go to seniors with 60% or less.
The County is working with Wakeland Housing and Development, and San Diego Kind Corporations to develop the property. The developers will lease the land for a $1 a year and pay an annual $10,000 administrative payment to the County. The housing units will remain affordable for 70 years.
The San Diego Housing Commission provided 70 project-based vouchers. The state provided $23 million in tax credits and $19 million in Multifamily Housing Program funds.
Construction on the Levant Street Cottages is scheduled for completion in early 2024.
Since 2017, the County has invested $175 million toward creating affordable housing in the region. Seven other excess County properties are slated for affordable housing.
