By Blake Nelson / The San Diego Union-Tribune / October 21, 2025
Hundreds of affordable housing units opened this month throughout the city of San Diego, a crucial addition in a region where the number of people losing a place to stay continues to outpace how many homeless residents are able to leave the streets.
The 560 apartments are spread across multiple buildings in downtown San Diego, the Clairemont Mesa neighborhood and the Midway District. Some are set aside for homeless people, veterans or young adults.
“When we support affordable housing in our communities, we are creating a safe and stable living environment for all residents,” Kimberly Giardina, a leader at the county’s Health and Human Services Agency, said in a statement.
Midway District
Pacific Village in the Midway District is for veterans, young adults and those who’ve experienced homelessness. The building is a converted hotel and holds 62 studio apartments. Fifteen are for homeless veterans.
Multiple levels of government similarly chipped in to support the renovations, and millions of dollars from the county will cover behavioral health services, which can treat both mental illnesses and substance use disorders.
[Editordude: this new Pacific Village used to be the Ramada Inn, pictured above. See more on Pacific Village here.]
Downtown San Diego
Harrington Heights in downtown San Diego has 270 apartments.
The 15-story East Village building is for those with “extremely low income,” including formerly homeless individuals, leaders said in a press release. “Today, as we welcome the future residents of Harrington Heights, let us remember what this project represents — that this is a city that refuses to give up on its people,” Mayor Todd Gloria said in a statement.
Families can earn only 25% to 50% of San Diego’s Area Median Income to be eligible. That shakes out to an annual income of about $37,200 to $74,450 for a three-person household. The units must remain affordable for at least 55 years.
Forty apartment are reserved for residents with developmental disabilities. On-site supportive services, including free haircuts and a veterinarian who can work with emotional support animals, will be overseen by the nonprofit Alpha Project.
The building was developed by the Chelsea Investment Corporation and relied on a combination of local, state and federal funding.
The project’s overall affordability is partially dependent on vouchers that help residents pay rent, including those issued through the housing commission and the Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program, or VASH.
That type of aid, however, may not be available indefinitely. Local officials previously said federal funding cuts could endanger some voucher programs in the coming years.
Clairemont Mesa neighborhood
The Mt. Etna Campus in the Clairemont Mesa neighborhood, near the intersection of Genesee and Balboa avenues, already opened one building earlier this year for low-income seniors.
The complex has now added two towers that collectively hold 228 apartments, officials announced. More than 70 of those are classified as permanent supportive housing, which is for residents needing ongoing supportive services.
The buildings are on county land that used to host a sheriff’s crime lab. The nonprofit Serving Seniors will provide supportive services.
Like Harrington Heights downtown, Mt. Etna was developed by the Chelsea Investment Corporation and relied on funding from the city, county, state and federal government. The complex is to remain affordable for at least 55 years.
A fourth building for low-income families is set to open early next year.
Other efforts around the region aim to further boost the supply of affordable units.
For example, the county’s Department of Planning and Development Services recently decided that tiny homes on wheels can count as standalone houses or Accessory Dwelling Units in unincorporated communities. Those homes cannot be larger than 430 square feet and must be used as residences, not short-term rentals.
In September, more than 1,100 people countywide became homeless for the first time, according to the Regional Task Force on Homelessness. Only 1,032 homeless people got housing during the same period.
By that measure, the crisis has grown during eight of the last nine months.
Now if only they could figure out how to build these affordable units for less than $1M per door.
After just receiving my newly increased property tax bill I don’t think I can afford to keep giving the county my hard earned cash so they can spend a CRAZY amount on housing for addicts.
I noticed that only two of us have commented on this travesty. The cost of this project must make a lot of you uncomfortable enough to ignore it and to say nothing.
This area needs affordable housing. It’s incumbent on the rest of us to help make this happen as we can’t wait for all the profit-driven developers or politicians in their pockets to make it happen. It’s part of the social contract, it’s part of society’s responsibility to assist those at the bottom. Geez, dude, this ain’t France in 1789. We can’t help a few of our fellow citizens but it’s okay for Trump to spend $300 million on a new ballroom, to fund the military and ICE to spiraling amounts? ICE now has a larger budget than the Israeli military.
Plus the Midway facility “is a converted hotel and holds 62 studio apartments. Fifteen are for homeless veterans.” Veterans. And what better way to use an old, abandoned hotel? Instead of tearing it down and building luxury apartments.
Now, it’s also true that individuals can’t be solely responsible for providing affordable housing, that government has to share the lion’s amount. And that’s one of the things we need, people running for office who talk about affordability.
Since FrankF lamented that few people have commented on this article, I will comment to say that I agree with Frank Gormlie’s response. This is an excellent use of an old hotel that is relatively cost effective and doesn’t displace anyone.
This is indeed a wonderful development which is why I think the back and forth with Midway Rising is so disappointing. Even if the number of affordable units built in that project ends up being less than the 2,000 currently proposed, it is virtually certain that the final number will significantly exceed the 62 affordable units in Pacific Village (which again is a wonderful development for Midway).
Instead, we’re stuck in this procedural mess over what amounts to lots of expensive paperwork (and costs us taxpayers lots of money!) Meanwhile the 2,000 (hopefully) affordable homes are not being built in addition to the majority of participating voters having their will overturned not just once, but twice.
Since we’re all being frank here, at least the state has Prop 13. And SD isn’t in the top 10 CA counties effective tax rate. And Cal isn’t in the top 20 as states are ranked on prop taxes. And owning a property in the finest climate in the USA is a dream for many. I get it that the new garbage removal rates can test anyone’s mettle. It could be worse. Also, very true leadership at the highest level nationally is fleecing and misappropriating money at an obscene & embarrassing level. Anyone have a breakdown of how prop taxes are distributed? I’m guessing a tiny fraction of a percent goes to affordable & veterans housing.
Frankly, didn’t mean to dump on your righteous indignation of having to be nickled-and -dimed to death by San Diego. Solving society’s problems is why we have government and if it can’t do that, then ….