Philanthropic Support Will Aid in Building 64-Units of Housing for Low-Income Seniors on County Property

February 8, 2023 – San Diego, CA – Low-income senior housing is now closer to being built on San Diego County-owned property, after Supervisor Nathan Fletcher and the Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to approve County and philanthropic gap funding for the Kettner Crossing project located at 1556 Kettner Boulevard in the Little Italy neighborhood.

An important component of making the project a reality is the San Diego Foundation’s Regional Housing Impact Fund (RHIF) that will provide a $2 million loan for this 64-unit affordable by Bridge Housing Corporation. Supervisor Fletcher first announced the RHIF partnership with the San Diego Foundation during his 2022 State of the County Address. San Diego Foundation support for the Kettner Crossing project is what the RHIF was intended to do when it was developed.

“This housing development is a great example of the way philanthropy and government can work in partnership to tackle the region’s affordable housing shortage,” said Supervisor Fletcher. “I appreciate the San Diego Foundation’s commitment to working with us to build more affordable housing. Their ongoing support will be vital to reaching our goal of building 10,000 homes on government-owned land.”

The RHIF supports development projects built on government-owned land. So far, the San Diego Foundation has raised $20 million of their $100 million goal.

“San Diego Foundation is committed to increasing housing access and availability for all San Diegans,” said Mark Stuart, President & CEO of San Diego Foundation. “Thanks to generous donors like Jay Kahn, whose gift will dedicate $5 million to the Regional Housing Impact Fund, we’ve already met 20 percent of our goal. We hope more San Diegans will donate as we continue to raise funds and invest in affordable and workforce housing projects like Kettner Crossing.”

Late last year, Supervisor Fletcher, together with San Diego City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera hosted a joint County-City meeting where each party agreed to work with one another and other government agencies to build 10,000 new units of affordable housing on government land over the next three to five years.

Years ago, the Board declared the County owned property located at 1556 Kettner Boulevard surplus to the County’s needs and authorized the Director, Department of General Services, to issue a Request for

Information and solicit interest from private developers to ground lease the site for residential or commercial development. The development will create new units, available to seniors at or below 50% of the area median income, which is $45,550 for a one-person household and $52,050 for a two-person household. Bridge Housing Corporation was able to secure an award of competitive tax credits from the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee for this development.

Read the entire policy the Board of Supervisors approved here.

About San Diego Foundation

San Diego Foundation inspires enduring philanthropy and enables community solutions to improve the quality of life in our region. Our strategic priorities include advancing racial and social justice, fostering equity of opportunity, building resilient communities, and delivering world-class philanthropy to realize our vision of just, equitable and resilient communities. The Environment Initiative seeks to preserve and protect our resources, build a more sustainable path of economic growth and ensure a higher quality of life for those who call San Diego home. For more than 47 years, SDF and its donors have granted more than $1.4 billion to support nonprofit organizations strengthening our community. Learn more at SDFoundation.org.

Contacts

James Canning, 619-372-7988, James.Canning@sdcounty.ca.gov
Lorena Nava Ruggero, 619-814-1365, lruggero@sdfoundation.org