Known as the Renaissance at North Park, the development is rising in the North Park Redevelopment Project Area, on the block bounded by El Cajon Boulevard, 30th Street, Meade Avenue and Kansas Street, with a portion of the parcel once part of the former Aztec Bowl site. Design plans call for a four-story, mixed-use facility fronting on El Cajon Boulevard and 14 three-story townhomes on Kansas Street.
The mixed-use facility will house the 96 affordable apartment units, which will be reserved for residents with incomes of up to 50% of the area media income. Additional components will include 6,000 sf of commercial space and 6,000 sf of either retail or community center space. A pedestrian plaza is also being built, which will provide a link between El Cajon Boulevard, shops and 187 new parking spaces. A separate, $6-million townhome development that will be comprised of 24 market-rate units has also been incorporated into the project area footprint.
Renaissance at North Park is being partially funded through public monies, including a $2-million loan from the San Diego Housing Commission; $4 million in aid from the San Diego Redevelopment Agency in the form of land acquisition, public improvements and technical assistance; and $11 million in state and federal tax credits.
The San Diego Interfaith Housing Foundation applied for the tax credits, with help from the city's Redevelopment Agency. The foundation also serves as co-developer with Carter Reese and Associates for the affordable housing component of the project. Other collaborators on the project include the City of San Diego, the San Diego Redevelopment Agency, the North Park Redevelopment Project Area Committee, the San Diego Housing Commission, Martinez + Cutri Architects, Sun Country Builders, Uptown Builders, Bank of America and Citibank.
When the $11 million in tax credits were secured back in the fall of 2003, Hank Cunningham, assistant executive director of the San Diego Redevelopment Agency, said that the Renaissance at North Park project "addresses two critical needs in San Diego--affordable housing and senior living."
When groundbreaking on the project recently kicked off, San Diego councilmember Toni Atkins, whose third district includes North Park, concurred, saying that the project is an "excellent example of the progress that can be made by encouraging developers to propose projects that meet the needs of a growing amount of San Diegans looking for an affordable home."
Affordable housing continues to be a pressing issue that has reached epic proportions in both the city and county of San Diego, with only 16% of the region's population able to afford a median-priced home within the county, according to recent research by the Urban Land Institute's San Diego/Tijuan chapter.
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