A piece of Father Joe’s Villages’ ambitious goal to build 2,000 affordable housing units for vulnerable San Diegans fell apart two years ago. A new construction technology has resurrected the project, which breaks ground Monday.
The eight-story building at the corner of Island Avenue and 16th Street is the first affordable housing development in San Diego to use mass timber, an engineered wood product that is cheaper than traditional steel and concrete.
“We’re introducing mass timber to San Diego. It’s very exciting,” said Joowan Lee, founder of Arete Development, which is handling the project on behalf of Father Joe’s.
Mass timber has other advantages as well, including its lower environmental impact. Plus, it is fire resistant so property insurance costs go down in the long run.
Since aspects are pre-fabricated, it is also faster to build. Father Joe’s conservative estimate for opening the development is March 2028, but construction company oWOW estimates that it could be done by the end of 2027.
An early pioneer of mass timber, oWOW Construction has tested the technology across California, starting with a 20-story tower in Oakland. This is their first project in San Diego.
“We were doing it before it was fully legalized, and before it became a cool thing that everybody’s talking about,” said CEO Danny Haber. “We’re happy we could help save the $10 million plus to make this site happen.”
The project contains 124 units made up of 68 studios, 55 one-bedroom apartments and one two-bedroom apartment. In addition to cost savings, mass timber also takes up less interior space for support beams. Switching to mass timber after the 2024 financing fell apart actually gave Father Joe’s space to add an additional 22 units without increasing the number of floors. Plus, some studios were upgraded to one bedrooms.
The units will be restricted to those making 30 to 60% of the area median income. That income level means not all who move in will be formerly homeless, but those at great risk of losing their housing. Some are just holding on “by their fingernails,” said Deacon Jim Vargas, who leads Father Joe’s Villages. He argued that it is cheaper for the community and less traumatizing for individuals to prevent homelessness, rather than waiting until someone is on the street.
“The cost of food, gas, goods and most of all, housing have put many of our neighbors in a precarious state,” Vargas said. “Every affordable home we build is one more person or family that finds stable housing instead of ending up or staying on the streets.”
Father Joe’s may also use mass timber on another project. The nonprofit plans to build a 15-story building on top of pilings above the four-story former skydiving center that the city once used as a housing navigation center.
Another San Diego developer set to use mass timber is PROTEA/Malick, which pitched an 11-story urbanist dream for San Diego Unified School District’s headquarters in University Heights.
Father Joe’s Villages is turning to the technology because the economics of building affordable housing have become increasingly difficult, according to Arete Development CEO Jodi Rothery.
In this case, another homeless-serving nonprofit, God’s Extended Hand, donated the property to Father Joe’s Villages after the city said the old building at the site was a hazard. Even with the donation, that was not enough savings to move forward.
Rothery had nearly received a city building permit in 2024 when the financing fell through. Shifting to mass timber dropped the cost per unit from $530,000 to $380,000— shaving millions off the overall cost. That made the $47 million project more competitive for state tax credits and grants, as well as private investment.
Father Joe’s now has an updated building permit, thanks in part to a city program where projects made up of 100% affordable housing jump to the front of the line at the Department of Development Services.
“San Diegans want more affordable housing, and this city is streamlining the process and making it easier to get these homes built,” said Councilmember Stephen Whitburn, who represents East Village, where the project is located.
Financing includes a construction loan from California Bank & Trust, a permanent loan from Citibank and tax credit equity from the investment bank, Raymond James. Ultimately, philanthropic gifts from billionaire philanthropist Irwin Jacobs and the David C. Copley Foundation completed funding for the project.
“After the years of planning, designing, financing, redesigning, refinancing and what felt like a mountain of paperwork,” Rothery said, “it is very exciting to finally be standing here with shovels instead of spreadsheets today.”
Despite the difficulties with funding affordable housing, in total, Father Joe’s Villages has 1,100 affordable homes in the pipeline.
With Qualcomm co-founder Jacobs, Father Joe’s also has plans to build 150 affordable units for seniors, a population that is increasingly vulnerable to becoming homeless.
