San Diego’s ‘Worst ADU’s’ Revisited

It’s Been Nearly 2 Years Since Rag Contest — Here’s an Update on Clairemont Area ADUs

By Michael A Hernandez 

It’s been almost two years since the Rag held a contest ranking “The Worst ADUs in San Diego”. Launched in an effort to better understand the severity of the issue of rampant ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit) development in America’s Finest City, the contest received dozens of resident submissions from at least 20 different localities.

Submissions were evaluated by a panel of judges consisting of reporters and experts on the subject who scored the projects based on their physical size or number of units, aesthetic, and their impact on the neighborhood, like affected street parking.

The issue has been a hot topic ever since the introduction of the City of San Diego’s Bonus ADU Program, which enabled homeowners to build additional ADUs on a property even after the maximum number allowed by right had been reached, so long as they agreed to rent the affordable housing unit to low or moderate-income households for the next 10-15 years.

If the property fell under what the city calls a “Transit Priority Area” or TPA (a designated zone within a half-mile radius of an existing or planned major transit stop like a bus stop or trolley station) then there was no limit to the amount of bonus ADU’s that can be built except for the space it occupies. This, coupled with the state of California’s ADU program, which simplifies and incentivizes the construction of ADUs to address the ongoing housing shortage, virtually allowed for an unlimited amount of ADUs to be built, and the way developers got around the obstacle of limited space, was by stacking units on top of one another resulting in towering apartment complexes in lots meant for single-family homes.

In June of 2025, the San Diego City Council voted 5-4 to reform and roll back the controversial Bonus ADU program and approved an extensive package of 25 amendments on ADU regulations. Among these changes were caps on the number of ADUs allowed to be built by lot size, added fees to support neighborhood infrastructure including active transportation, fire facilities, libraries, and parks and recreation improvement. As well as parking requirements, and restrictions for ADUs built in high or very-high fire hazard severity zones.

Just as the regulations on ADUs have changed since the Rag’s contest wrapped up nearly two years ago, so too have the contest’s “winners” changed in more than just their appearance. Here’s an update on some of the “Worst ADUs in San Diego” in and near the Clairemont area, my home:

4578 Jicarillo Avenue, Bay Ho (see top photo for ‘before’)

To start things off we have the Gold Prize winner of the contest, voted the worst ADU in San Diego, the massive multi-unit development located on 4578 Jicarillo Ave in the residential Neighborhood of Bay Ho. Pictured incomplete at the time of the contest, the now completed 15-bed, 14-bath development drew a considerable amount of backlash from local residents due to its density, placement on an environmentally sensitive canyon, lack of public input, and failure to build additional parking for residents in an already narrow street. In May of this year the property was listed for sale with a price tag of $5.65 Million.

4862 Fond Du Lac Court

Next up is one of the contest’s “dishonorable mentions”.

The development on 4862 Fond Du Lac Court in North Clairemont is another submission that was pictured unfinished at the time the contest was held. Now that it’s complete , the project stands as the tallest building in the cul-de-sac. With limited driveway parking spaces to divide between at least 8 units, one can only imagine how the project has exacerbated the scarce parking situation in the crowded neighborhood. As of June 2026, there are residents living in the complex and units are listed for rent between $1,788 and $2,088 a month.

6150 Mercer St, University City

At first-glance it may be hard to distinguish the before-and-after pictures shown above, but that just goes to show how bland and characterless the ADU on 6150 Mercer Street in University City really is.

The judges of the contest described the ADU as “nondescript” and “boxy-looking”. Truer words have never been spoken. Compared to the other buildings in the area, this development is unlike any other in both shape and size. It is important to note the neighborhood it resides in, University City, was once at the center of the heated debate over San Diego’s bonus density program, which like the bonus ADU program, allowed developers to exceed maximum unit count or building height in exchange for affordable dwelling units. Digital rental marketplaces list the ADU for rent at $4,650 a month.

4674 Firestone, North Clairemont

Last, but certainly not least, is the mega-ADU project located on 4674 Firestone Street in North Clairemont.

Pictured as a complex of five buildings in the backyard of a single-family home just two years ago. Today, an entire third row of buildings that can be seen from just about anywhere in Firestone Street, have been constructed after the developer, known as the “King of ADUs” Christian Spicer, purchased the lot next door to continue adding to the project. Spicer, the founder and CEO of homebuilding and property development company San Diego Real Estate or SDRE (now operating under its new name, Infill Innovations, Inc.) and his investors are directly responsible for numerous large-scale projects which prompted the city’s crackdown on the development of ADUs. The project on Firestone Street stands as a testament to the outcomes of ADU law exploitation in order to turn a profit.