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Luxury Hi Rise to become Affordable housing

By Pete in Downtown San Diego Real Estate with 0 Comments

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This was the story yesterday and today on the news. A few thoughts about this. It will still have the same appearance from the exterior, which is great! The interior will be built as apartment grade instead of condo specs. Meaning, it will not have laundry in the units and cabinets, counters, appliances etc. will not be hi-end.

I think this is great!

There is a need for a fully balanced community in downtown San Diego. Part of that balance is affordable urban housing. Also known as “work force” housing. Housing for the individuals that bust their rear every day to make ends meet. The firefighters, teachers, police officers and trade workers that have helped shape this city and make it great. They have every right to live down here as well. A lot has been said by individuals that will be moving into or already live in nearby condo communities. The feeling that this will hurt their values. The perception is that with the label “affordable” comes the idea of poverty stricken families packing large amounts of people into a small living space. I would hope this will be monitored as this will be an investment on the part of the city. Another fear is that it will only have 65% plus or minus of the original allotted parking if it were the luxury condo it was intended to be. Making street parking become even more scarce. It should not cause a fear. One community official has said that that would be enough for an aprtment building and in the past they had come up with more parking than was necessary. I want to state that when people move and transition into an urban environment, they need to SHED THE SUBURBAN MENTALITY. You aren’t going to have a garage, you aren’t going to have lots of parking. Mass transit is a block away. Use it. It will save you money on insurance and gas and will help clean up the environment. Isn’t that what everyone wants?

I digress. Back on topic. The addition of this work force housing will help bring balance to the neighborhood of downtown. It is not going to add to the inventory of existing available homes because these are rentals and not for sale. Those of you renting your condos shouldn’t feel like it will pull down your value as you will still have a unit in an ownership community with much nicer amenities, fixtures, flooring etc. That will always command a higher price than apartment grade dwellings.

In order for us to thrive we will need infrastructure- the office buildings, commercial buildings, residential buildings both for sale and for rent. This is the reality of urban living. We are seeing it all come to fruition and I am excited about it. The same developer doing this at 10th and 11th on B is also developing a block in the South part of the East Village for the same purpose.http://www.fox6.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=937826bc-195a-4c40-aeb8-cec345e13589