NEW AFFORDABLE HOUSING HIGH-RISE ON TRACK TO OPEN
Finishing touches made at 407-room downtown S.D. site
More than 400 homeless people in San Diego will have a new permanent place to live by March following the anticipated opening of Father Joe’s Villages’ largest affordable housing project.
“What we want to do here is build a community,” said Deacon Jim Vargas, president and CEO of the nonprofit during a recent tour of the 407-room Saint Teresa of Calcutta Villa affordable housing project in
East Village
Vargas has been giving hard-hat tours of the construction site to donors, the media and local officials for about a year, usually relying on artist renderings to show what the building will look like when finished.
The renderings are no longer needed, he said Wednesday during what likely will be the final tour of the building. Aside from finishing touches on a few floors and the installation of a statute of St. Teresa near the entrance at 14th and Commercial streets, the two-year construction project is nearing its end.
Vargas said the completion date is on target, with a ribbon-cutting planned for Feb. 8. By then, some tenants
already will have moved into the 14-story
building, and all rooms are expected to be occupied by
March.
The building will include 25 one-bedroom units and 25 two-bedroom units, with the remainder studio apartments. Vargas said the most-expensive units will be two-bedrooms that will rent for $1,100 — an unheard of price for a new residential building in the neighborhood — and many of the tenants are expected to be employed or have other sources of income.
Rooftop areas will have community gardens, barbecues and dog runs. The exercise room already has treadmills and other equipment, and units are stocked with refrigerators, heaters, stoves, dishwashers and microwaves.
Views from some of the rooftop decks and rooms include Petco Park on one side and the bridge to Coronado on another.
Other views show the need for the building. The ground floor administration room provides views of Commercial Street, which often is lined with tents.
A variety of sources funded the $145 million project, with $10 million coming from philanthropist Terrence Caster, founder of the Caster Group. When completed, the project will double the number of Father Joe’s Villages’ residential units and add to a long-term goal of creating 2,000 new affordable units under its Turning the Key initiative.