Wakeland Housing and Development Corp. will break ground on Tuesday for a $79.3 million affordable housing project on a long-vacant site in downtown San Diego.
The Atmosphere development is a 205-unit, 12-story apartment complex at 4th Avenue and Beech Street. It will include 51 supportive housing units for individuals with special needs, including formerly homeless, as well as ground-floor retail space.
Units will range for studios to three bedrooms and cater to tenants who earn between 30 percent and 60 percent of the area’s median income. Rents will range from $394 to $1,191 a month.
“Atmosphere provides safe, high-quality housing at what had simply been a vacant lot in downtown San Diego. Located in close proximity to stores, public transportation and other resources to help low-income or homeless individuals to integrate into the vibrant surrounding neighborhood,” said Richard Shea, market manager for U.S. Bank’s affordable-housing lending division.
The project, over six years in development, received major financing from U.S. Bank.
“Wakeland began working on the development and financing for Atmosphere in 2009, and when the State of California took away redevelopment a few years later, the future of this project became uncertain,” said Wakeland President and CEO Ken Sauder. “Without U.S. Bank’s financing in place, coupled with other state and city sources, we wouldn’t be breaking ground today.”
Construction is expected to be completed in February 2017.
Wakeland builds and operates affordable housing in California with a portfolio of nearly 6,000 homes in 34 communities.
