The San Diego Community College District says it will lease a six-story building near San Diego City College that will enable it to provide roughly 60 units of low-cost student housing in one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the area.
The building is at 845 15th St., a few blocks from where City College is constructing a seven-story residential tower that will house about 800 students when it opens in 2028.
The smaller building will also open in two years and is meant to address widespread homelessness among students, the district said. The structure has been part of the Makers Quarter project, a mixed-use urban renewal initiative.
The community college district is one of the few in the state that is moving fast to add such housing.
“The current conceptual design envisions one-and two-bedroom apartments priced between $1,000 and $1,500 per apartment, per month,” Joel Peterson, vice chancellor and executive operations officer, said in a statement.
“This is far below the average rent of $2,600 for a single-bedroom efficiency apartment in San Diego.”
The district is entering into a 25-year lease and says it will have the option to acquire the property during the first years of the lease.
Such collaboration is not unusual. Sea Breeze Properties, a private company, is currently building an 11-story tower that will house more than 920 Cal State San Marcos students, starting next year.