By David Harvey
SDUN Reporter
Community HousingWorks, a San Diego nonprofit organization that specializes in affordable housing and home loans, fell $8 to $9 million short of the $56 million needed for the Boulevard project, said Anne Wilson, senior vice president of housing and real estate development for Community HousingWorks.
According to Wilson, funding cuts at the City of San Diego Redevelopment Agency and the San Diego Housing Commission made the 175-unit project impossible.
“[The city] made it clear there is not enough money to fund The Boulevard,” Wilson said. “The project is not moving forward. It’s a hard thing for us, to hear that there’s no money.”
The city approved the Boulevard project in 2005. In 2008, Community HousingWorks began the process of purchasing the El Cajon Boulevard property from American Property Enterprises, a San Diego-based real estate investment firm that manages the site.
In 2009, Community Housing Works was awarded state funding for The Boulevard, but that money remained unavailable until April 27, 2010, due to statewide budget issues.
American Property Enterprises President Steve Quinn, who received regular funding reports from Community HousingWorks, said that even after April, state funding was contingent on the receipt of local funds from sources such as the Redevelopment Agency, whose budget has been cut to support state programs.
“On the one hand the state says, ‘Yeah, we’ll make $15 million dollars available,’ and on the other hand they (the city) kind of pull the rug out from under the builders,” he said.
“More than $2 million in funds were taken by the state—close to half of the funds [the Redevelopment Agency] had available on hand—which greatly limited our ability to provide additional assistance for this project and other projects,” he said in an e-mail.
Community HousingWorks recently approached additional funding sources, such as Center City Development Corporation, which invests in and implements redevelopment projects on behalf of the city, but was unsuccessful in securing the needed money. The organization also suggested the city split the needed funds over two budget years, Wilson said, but were told next year wouldn’t be any better (financially).
“There were long silences in various parts of the city (about funding),” Wilson said. “We needed an answer—we live in loans and agreements.”
Wilson said “a good amount of money went into the design” for the six-story project but declined to specify how much had already been spent on planning for it. She said the housing complex’s future is still unclear.
“Many things in the world could change for the better or worse in the next 12 months, so I can’t say whether it’s going to move forward,” Wilson said. “That it’s stayed alive this long is pretty amazing. It’s the right project, it’s the right vision. It’s just the wrong economy.”
Quinn also withheld comment on the property’s original value and continued expenses, but did say the company has operated the property at a substantial loss since 2005.
“We’re continuing to pay interest and property taxes and insurance and everything it takes to keep the property running. That’s one reason we want to fix up the buildings and get them into the condition that we can rent them to someone,” he said.
As Community HousingWorks raised money for the project through grant and loan applications, American Property Enterprises maintained the site, renting some buildings to local businesses, such as Route 44 Skate shop and Best Buy Auto Sales. However, the largest building on the property, the former San Diego Stage and Lighting, went into disrepair from looting of electrical and plumbing systems.
“We haven’t had a tenant in [the San Diego Stage and Lighting building] because there is a tremendous amount of money we would have to spend to get the building functional,” Quinn said. “Now we’re trying to get budgets together to determine if it’s going to be feasible to rebuild some of those [damaged] systems.”
Quinn said Community HousingWorks may proceed with the project until October 2011, and that extensions may be granted. He said he hopes a residential project like The Boulevard will be possible in the future.
According to Wilson and Quinn, there was broad support from the community and city officials, such as District 3 Councilmember Todd Gloria, who thought highly of The Boulevard.
“I saw this project as a way to revitalize a segment of El Cajon Boulevard through redevelopment, while also providing needed affordable housing opportunities,” Gloria said. “I am disappointed it did not work out and look forward to strengthening this neighborhood in other ways.”
“We have never taken a strong position on this particular development, but we have heard the pros and cons from the community groups,” said Jackie O’Connor, president of the El Cajon Business Improvement District’s board of directors. “We’re in strong support of mixed use, that’s what creates the density where the community thrives, any development that would bring people to live or work in our community we’re in support of.”
Although the North Park Planning Committee, the Planning Commission and City Council all supported the project, the University Heights Community Association voted against it. According to UHCA President Greg Sorini, his membership felt the scope of the project was too large for the high-volume area.
“It’s a huge project, there will be hundreds of people there,” Sorini said. “Originally it was planned as condos, and the number of people that would be living there would (have been) lower than in affordable housing. Putting that many people in an already crowded area doesn’t seem like a good plan.”
Additionally, The Boulevard project had set aside 20 units for tenants aged 18 to 25 with diagnosed mental health disorders. Community Association members agreed that the location wasn’t suited for those residents, Sorini said.
“To put them on El Cajon Boulevard where there’s a history of prostitution and drug use is not a good idea,” Sorini said. “They’re trying to do a commercial redevelopment and revitalization of El Cajon Boulevard and that project doesn’t seem to be the best ways to bring that about.”
Vicki Granowitz, who serves on the North Park Planning Committee, said that while the UHCA’s concerns made her question whether the Planning Committee may have been wrong to give the project its quick support, the issues could have been mitigated by better public outreach.
“[Community Housing Works employees] were avoiding being upfront about the issues,” Granowitz said. “They were doing a dog and pony show.”
According to Granowitz, the project was well managed, but Community HousingWorks distanced the UHCA—and eventually some members of the Planning Committee—by not being more forthcoming.
“They had answers to all of [our questions] so it didn’t make sense to me why they didn’t put it all on the table,” she said. “It’s a really thought-out, well-managed process by an organization with a long history of doing these kind of projects.”
“In my heart of hearts I did wish someone would say, ‘We can’t let this die’ and come up with some magic money,” Wilson said. “And I think they would have if there were some but there is no magic money to be had.”
Despite the lack of funding for The Boulevard, Community Housing Works, which maintains several properties throughout San Diego County, is hoping to break ground on another project soon: a four-story, 83-unit family housing complex at Florida Street and University Avenue. All local funding has been secured, and construction can begin as soon as state grants are approved.
