ESCONDIDO — San Diego County is moving ahead with plans to build multiple affordable housing developments on public land, including a 136-unit project in Escondido that will serve low-income seniors and formerly homeless veterans.
The county Board of Supervisors on May 7 unanimously approved agreements for the Escondido project at 620 E. Valley Parkway, a former parking lot that will be transformed into a four-story apartment complex.
The project, called Valley Creek Senior, will include 122 units for low-income seniors, 12 for formerly homeless senior veterans, and two units for onsite managers.
The development will also feature a 5,800-square-foot childcare center open to the public.
“The goal is to make the childcare services free,” said John Seymour, vice president of acquisitions and forward planning for National Community Renaissance of California, one of the project’s developers, along with the San Diego Community Housing Corporation.
Ted Miyahara, president of the San Diego Community Housing Corporation, said the Escondido project “is the best use for the site,” adding that it would house “some of the region’s most vulnerable populations.”
The board also approved a separate 90-unit affordable housing project for seniors at 5202 University Ave. in San Diego, to be developed by the San Diego Housing Commission. Both locations are part of 11 county-owned surplus sites targeted for affordable housing.
“When the 11 sites are completed, they will provide nearly 1,800 homes for low-income San Diegans,” said David Estrella, director of the county’s Housing and Community Development Services.
Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer noted that the county may not receive credit for meeting its state-mandated regional housing needs allocation, since most projects are within city boundaries and not in unincorporated areas, where the county is required to build 6,700 homes between 2021 and 2029.
“Taking our county land resources and using it to build affordable housing that, frankly, we don’t even get credit for – it’s the right thing to do,” Lawson-Remer said. “We made a commitment nearly four years ago to try to build nearly 10,000 units on public land, and I think we are well on our way.”
Supervisors Monica Montgomery-Steppe and Jim Desmond also praised the project. Desmond noted the partnership with the City of Escondido and said Mayor Dane White supported the effort. He called the pairing of housing and childcare “a wonderful combination.”
