November 28, 2018
77 New Affordable Apartments for Families Open in the Northwest Area of the City Of San Diego
The San Diego Housing Commission partnership development Luna at Pacific Highlands Ranch will remain affordable for 55 years
SAN DIEGO, CA – A new addition among the tree-lined streets in the Pacific Highlands Ranch community provides opportunities for affordable rental homes for low-income families near schools and a retail center in the northwest area of the City of San Diego.
“What’s particularly wonderful is when the Pacific Highlands community was developed, starting in 1998, the voters actually approved the development of this community with the condition that 20 percent of the housing built here would be affordable,” San Diego City Council President Pro Tem Barbara Bry said at today’s grand opening of the Luna at Pacific Highlands Ranch development, which is located in her Council district. “So this is a community that truly celebrates diversity and welcomes everyone.”
Developed by Affirmed Housing Group in partnership with the San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC) and R&V Management, Luna includes 77 rental apartments that will remain affordable for 55 years for households with income up to 60 percent of the San Diego Area Median Income, currently $58,380 per year for a family of four.
“Additional affordable rental apartments are needed in communities throughout the City of San Diego,” said SDHC Vice Chair of the Board of Commissioners Stefanie Benvenuto, who was joined at the grand opening by SDHC President & CEO Richard C. Gentry. “And these apartments at Luna are important additions here in Pacific Highlands Ranch.”
Families at Luna are across the street from Canyon Crest Academy High School and within walking distance of Pacific Trails Middle School. The apartments also are adjacent to retail, food and other services at The Village shopping center.
The Pacific Highlands Ranch community also includes a corporate campus designed to attract employers and is located within 10 miles of several major San Diego company headquarters.
“Today, this project here that you see is for families. And there’s obviously a critical need for affordable housing,” Affirmed Housing President and CEO Jim Silverwood said.
More than 3,600 households applied to live at Luna’s 77 affordable units, which include one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments. Residents have been approved for all of the units, with some still in the process of moving in to their new rental homes.
“Communities like this make dreams come true for residents. We have, in our household composition, dental assistants, bus drivers, substitute teachers, veterans, retirees, local store employees from all of the businesses we have surrounding us, and of course a couple of entrepreneurs,” said Gianna Solari-Richards, President of Solari Enterprises, the property manager. “It’s wonderful also that we have the opportunity to provide the management here because this is where people will celebrate their life milestones and get together and become a community.”
Rents at Luna range from approximately $800 to $1,500 per month.
SDHC authorized the issuance of $21.8 million in tax-exempt Multifamily Housing Revenue Bonds toward Luna’s $28.6 million total development cost. The City Council, in its role as the Housing Authority of the City of San Diego, approved these bonds.
SDHC, the City of San Diego and the Housing Authority of the City of San Diego are not financially liable for the bonds. Private sources of funds, such as revenue from the development, are used to repay the bonds.
Private sector financing partners also were essential to the development.
“They say that the two happiest days in a banker’s life are, one, when they make a loan, and, two, when it pays off. But I would tell you that the most fantastic day in a banker’s life is when they grand open, and you can actually see the difference, see the residents, and understand the difference that having this type of housing makes in their lives,” said Charmaine Atherton, Senior Vice President and Client Manager for Bank of America’s Community Development Banking Group in Southern California.
Additional financing was provided by Banner Bank, represented at the grand opening by Vice President of Affordable Housing Lending California Wahid Karim.
Chevelle Newell-Tate, Field Representative for California Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, presented Affirmed Housing Group with a certificate in recognition of the opening of the Luna development.
Luna is part of the Pacific Highlands Ranch sub-area of the North City Future Urbanizing Area (NCFUA), located just east of Interstate 5 and north of State Route 56. Pardee Homes is the master developer of the Pacific Highlands Ranch master-planned community, approved by City of San Diego voters through a 1998 ballot measure.
The grand opening of Luna brings the number of affordable rental units developed in Pacific Highlands Ranch to nearly 650.
Those who are interested in learning more about living at Luna at Pacific Highlands Ranch should call Solari Enterprises at (800) 801-8440 ext. 7151.
For more information about SDHC, visit www.sdhc.org
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Media Contact:
Scott Marshall
Vice President of Communications
San Diego Housing Commission
(619) 578-7138
scottm@sdhc.org
