The partners describe the new fund as an effort to revitalize urban centers and to create affordable housing for middle-income residents. It will provide funding to build approximately 2,000 market-rate housing units throughout San Diego County as well as neighborhood retail centers that would serve the housing.

"We are trying to increase the supply of housing, particularly in urban areas that have suffered from disinvestment or are in need of a face lift or redevelopment," Jay Stark, managing director of Phoenix Realty Group, tells GlobeSt.com. According to Stark, the majority of the projects will be new developments and will consist of condominiums, townhomes, higher-density single-family housing and mixed-use parcels. Construction is set to begin in the next six months and to continue through late 2006. The housing will be priced in the $400,000 median range and will be targeted at households with incomes ranging from 80% to 200% of the San Diego median income. In San Diego, that means a median of $62,000, or a range of $49,600 to $93,000 a year. Possible tenants for the neighborhood retail locations would include coffee shops, bakeries, shoemakers, hair salons, postal centers and other service retail establishments.

The partners estimate that the construction of the San Diego Smart Growth Fund developments will yield $18 million in sales tax revenue and provide more than 2,400 jobs. The completed housing and retail developments will yield annual property and sales tax revenue of more than $10 million, according to Robert Adelizzi, chairman of the San Diego Capital Collaborative. The collaborative was formed by the San Diego City and San Diego County Reinvestment Task Force, which has been considering such a revitalization effort for the past four years.