13 Acres Of Land Set Aside For Affordable Housing In San Diego, North County, Near Trolley Stations

By Editor, Times of San Diego

March 11, 2022

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors and the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System made nine surplus properties available for developers to submit affordable housing proposals.

The land, a total of more than 13 acres, includes sites in the College Area, Grantville and Escondido and several areas near trolley stations.

Nathan Fletcher, chairman of the county board, described affordable housing access as “at crisis levels right now.”

“People need access to housing that is stable, safe, and secure and we’re ready to do our part,” Fletcher said.

He added that later this year the county is expected to bring more properties to supervisors with requests that the sites also be designated as surplus.

Earlier this month, the board approved labeling three county-owned properties as surplus:

• The former Northeast Family Resource Center, 5001 73rd Street in the College Area
• 6255 Mission Gorge Road in Grantville, and
• The former North Inland Family Resource Center at 600-620 E. Valley Parkway, Escondido.

The available MTS Properties are:

• 13th & National, triangle lots adjacent to 12th & Imperial Transit Center,
• 47th Street Trolley Station,
• 70th Street Trolley Station,
• Amaya Trolley Station,
• Massachusetts Trolley Station,
• Riverwalk site

“There’s a lot of housing opportunity coming up on MTS land for San Diego residents,” said Sharon Cooney, MTS’ chief executive officer. “MTS is intent on creating more housing options for working families on its property to help reduce emissions, spur economic development, and create vibrant neighborhoods around our transit lines.”

To contact the County about its three properties, developers may pre-register by emailing DGSAssetManagement@sdcounty.ca.gov. RFPs for the three County properties were posted online Wednesday. To contact the Metropolitan Transit System about its properties, visit www.sdmts.com/real-estate.

The county recently has invested more than $53 million in city, and North and South County projects that will lead to nearly 1,000 new units for various low-income and disadvantaged communities. One project, the downtown Saint Teresa of Calcutta Villa, opened last month.

MTS also has leased three sites to developers who have built 500 units, with ground set to be broken on 390 more.

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