SAN DIEGO—Affirmed Housing celebrates the grand opening today of Cypress, the second Downtown San Diego housing development that serves homeless individuals with special needs to be completed within the last few months. The project, located at 1435 Imperial Ave. in Downtown San Diego, is a permanent-supportive-housing development that pairs the latest urban design with affordability for this especially vulnerable population.

Cypress is the second permanent-supportive-housing community to be completed in Downtown San Diego within the last few months. As GlobeSt.com reported in May, Wakeland Housing and Development Corp. completed construction on Atmosphere, a high-rise project that includes 154 units of affordable housing for families earning between 30% and 60% of the San Diego area median income, plus 51 units of permanent supportive housing specifically for adults requiring additional support due to homelessness, mental disability or age. The community's first tenants began to move in in the spring.

As we reported in December 2015, Affirmed's senior project manager John Wurster told us that high-quality affordable housing for lower-income residents of all levels is critical to San Diego's economic health and prosperity, but a shortage of state and local funding inhibits production. As we also reported, Affirmed, in partnership with the San Diego Housing Commission, had broken ground on Cypress at that time.

Now complete, Cypress provides 62 studio apartments for residents earning an average of 30% to 40% of the area median income. The project also has one one-bedroom manager's unit. Resident apartments range from 275 square feet to 350 square feet and feature personal kitchens and bathrooms. Shared amenities include a second-level outdoor open space, a community kitchen, tech tables and lounge areas with abundant natural sunlight. The environmentally friendly community also has a solar array to offset 60% of its common-area energy usage.

The community also offers resident services by St. Vincent de Paul Village Inc. The project was designed by Carrier Johnson + Culture and built by HA Builders, with civil engineering by Kettler Leweck Engineering and landscape design by Ivy Landscape Architects. Funding for the project included 9% federal tax credits, $3.4 million development capital from the San Diego Housing Commission and $3.8 million in transit-oriented development grant funding. The project was also awarded 62 project-based federal housing vouchers, which have an annual value of $612,312.

According to James Silverwood, president of Affirmed Housing, “Affirmed is pleased to be leading in the efforts of Mayor Faulconer and the San Diego Housing Commission to reduce homelessness in the city of San Diego. In providing permanent supportive housing, we believe we are giving our residents the tools they need to succeed and advance their place in society.”

In addition, Wakeland has completed Talmadge Gateway, a new housing community in San Diego's historic Talmadge neighborhood. The project will allow 59 homeless seniors a permanent place to live and is an example of a model called “Housing First“ that has proven effective at reducing homelessness in cities across the US. Talmadge Gateway is the first 100% permanent supportive housing community in San Diego for seniors who have been homeless and have ongoing medical needs.

According to Ken Sauder, president and CEO of Wakeland, “Talmadge Gateway is unique in that it not only gives these formerly homeless seniors a safe place to live, but also offers wraparound supportive services designed to help them live stable, independent lives. Completing this property demonstrates Wakeland's ongoing commitment to provide affordable and permanent supportive homes in the San Diego region to help alleviate our current housing crisis.”

Wakeland developed the 60-unit property (with 59 rentals and 1 manager's' unit) in partnership with City Heights Community Development Corp., and services will be provided primarily by St. Paul's Senior Services' Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly, which offers a wide variety of healthcare and social services for seniors.

The need for permanent-supportive-housing developments like Talmadge Gateway is strong in San Diego County, particularly for seniors. According to the 2017 San Diego Homeless Point-in-Time count, nearly one-third of San Diego County's 9,116 homeless residents are seniors. Permanent supportive housing gives these residents a “forever home” where they can become stabilized and access community resources with the goal of staying housed for the long term. This combination of housing and services known as the Housing First model has helped some communities reduce chronic street homelessness by as much as 90%.

Instant Insights /

Another Win for Permanent Supportive Housing

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