San Diego city officials break ground on affordable apartments in Linda Vista

Local elected officials were on hand this week for a groundbreaking ceremony to kick off construction of 95 affordable rental apartments in the Linda Vista Neighborhood.

The development, Ulric Street Apartments, is being constructed in collaboration with the San Diego Housing Commission. The affordable units on Ulric Street near Zane Court include 10 studio apartments for veterans who have experienced chronic homelessness.

All 95 apartments will remain “affordable” for the next 55 years for households with low income, according to information the San Diego Housing Commission released ahead of the pre-recorded, virtual ceremony Tuesday.

“The Ulric Street Apartments, a project taken on by Community HousingWorks, is not just a housing development; it is a project that has the potential to truly change people’s lives,” said Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, The County directed $7 million from its Innovative Housing Trust Fund to support this development.

The Ulric development will include apartments affordable to households with income of 30 percent to 60 percent of the San Diego area’s median income, or approximately $34,650 to $69,300 per year for a family of four, according to the San Diego Housing Commission.

The affordable apartments at the new development will include 12 studios, 21 one-bedroom apartments, 33 two-bedroom apartments and 29 three-bedroom apartments, according to The Housing Commission. The development also includes a one-bedroom manager’s unit.

Construction is expected to be complete in spring 2022.

According to a Sept. 1, 2020, report the Housing Commission provided to the Housing Authority of the City of San Diego, the estimated total cost of the Ulric development was estimated at $53.4 million, which breaks down to $556,489 per unit.

For people with income of 30 percent of the area’s median income, a studio with a bathroom is expected to cost $561 per month, $601 for a 1-beddroom with one bathroom, $722 for two bedrooms and one bathroom, and $834 for a unit with three bedrooms and two bathrooms, the report said.

People with income of 40 percent to 50 percent of the area’s median income, would be expected to pay $963 per month for a unit with two bedrooms and one bathroom, or $1,669 per month for an apartment with three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

The money to build the development comes from a variety of sources including state housing grants, loans from the Housing Commission and the county’s Innovative Housing Trust Fund, and tax credit equity, according to the Sept. 1 report.