A project to build affordable housing and an upgraded health clinic in Logan Heights was approved Tuesday by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.

The project, on the 3100 block of Ocean View Boulevard, will feature 121 affordable units for families earning an average of about half of the area’s median income — which is now just below $131,000 — and a nearly 24,000-square-foot health clinic next to it.

Development rights were given to BRIDGE Housing and San Ysidro Health through the lease of surplus county land for $300 a year. This is on the condition that any housing developed must be deemed affordable, and any clinic built on the site must be operated by a federally-qualified health center, for 99 years.

“For many years, the San Diego region has faced a chronic shortage of affordable housing units that directly impacts housing insecurity and housing cost burden for lower-income households,” read the county’s board letter. “Given this housing crisis, we must leverage every available option to develop more affordable housing.”

The Ocean View property is one of 12 tracts of county surplus land chosen as sites for affordable housing. Three are complete, one is under construction, seven are expected to break ground in the next three years, and one is in the planning process, according to the county.

Housing

The property to be developed is three parcels declared as surplus land by the county in April 2023. BRIDGE was selected to develop it through a competitive bid process, according to county documents. Of the 12 county surplus land projects, the Ocean View property is the third granted to BRIDGE for development. The non-profit had developed several projects along the West Coast.

On its website, BRIDGE touts that it has “pioneered the use of private-sector capital” in the development of affordable housing. It secured a private equity fund of $250 million from Morgan Stanley and National Equity Fund.

“We have always been a nonprofit that operates like a business, pursuing entrepreneurial strategies and creative approaches to advance our mission,” reads the website’s finance page.

This structure was met with some backlash at the Board of Supervisors’ Tuesday meeting. Over 55 pages of letters were submitted to the board in opposition of BRIDGE and called for more favorable rents at another of its affordable housing units, Kettner Crossings, located in Little Italy.

“There is no way that people that are living on what was formerly county land should be coming to us saying [sic] that they cannot afford the rent,” said Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe.

Health care

The idea for an upgraded clinic came from the community. The San Ysidro Comprehensive Health Center already exists at that location, but would need to be demolished to build affordable housing.

When the county gathered feedback in 2023, several residents were concerned their community would lose its access to local health care. The county instead opted to construct the new clinic in the parking lot of the existing one, so that demolition of the old clinic would not begin until the new one opened its doors, according to the board’s agenda letter.

San Ysidro also won a competitive bid to develop the new clinic on a county request for proposal, according to documents attached to the board’s agenda.

Terms

A $500,000 initial payment from BRIDGE and San Ysidro will be deposited into the county’s Innovative Housing Trust Fund, which aims to support more affordable housing development in the future. Rent for BRIDGE is $100 per year and $200 per year for San Ysidro. Both figures will increase at 3.5% every year. Proceeds will also be deposited into the IHTF.

The project is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act, due to its status as providing affordable housing and healthcare.

The project was approved unanimously by the Board of Supervisors as part of the meeting’s consent agenda. The board’s vote approved disposition and development agreements, ground leases, restrictive covenants, regulatory agreement and CEQA exemption. All but the CEQA exemption have not been made available to the public as of Friday.