Originally published Massive Mission Valley Development Makes Milestone on by https://www.sdbj.com/real-estate/development/massive-mission-valley-development-makes-milestone/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=massive-mission-valley-development-makes-milestone at San Diego Business Journal
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SAN DIEGO – Wakeland Housing and Development Corp. has started building a $140 million Mission Valley apartment complex that is the first project to break ground in the $1 billion Riverwalk project by Hines.
The overall Riverwalk development has been put on hold, but Wakefield was able to move ahead with its portion of the master planned community after receiving a $41.1 million grant from the state.
A portion of the state money – $10 million – will go toward construction of a new Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) Green Line trolley stop planned by Hines, according to Lisa Huff, Wakeland Housing director of development.
“We are honored to be part of Riverwalk San Diego and we’re delighted to be the first housing development to break ground there,” Huff said. “All of us have been working very hard toward construction starts and Hines has been a great partner in letting us pursue this large-scale, affordable housing development.”
Named for the late Evan Becker, former head of the San Diego Housing Commission, the 190 apartments in the three-building complex will be earmarked for tenants with annual incomes of 60% or less of the Area Median Income (AMI), which is $99,240 for a family of four.
Built on 1.7-acres at the northern portion of the 200-acre Riverwalk along Friars Road, the Becker will have 46 one-bedroom apartments, ranging from 518 square feet to 558 square feet, 80 two-bedroom apartments of 728 square feet to 940 square feet, and 55 three-bedroom apartments of 942 square feet to 1,068 square feet in three buildings – one four story building and two five story buildings.
Huff said that 15% of the apartments will be set aside for disabled tenants.
Monthly rents will range from $930 to $2,580.
Designed by MVE + Partners with Level 10 as the general contractor, “It’s got a very open-air feel,” Huff said. “There are open walkways, catwalks and there’s a roof deck on the five-story building.”
The roof deck looks south over Riverwalk, “so you’ll be able to see the (San Diego) river, down into Mission Hills across the (interstate 8) freeway,” Huff said.
Comfortable Neighborhood
MVE prepared the master plan for Riverwalk and the Becker “is going to tie in with everything across that master plan,” said Chase Rongé, MVE principal and San Diego director. “It’s all tied very closely to this affordable development.”
For example, Rongé said that the east side of the Becker connects to a linear park that, in turn, connects to a larger park.
A pedestrian breezeway will run north to south to connect two of the buildings to Friars Road.
An elevated walkway will also connect two of the buildings on levels three, four and five.
“I really appreciate the fact that this site is central to the overall master plan, not sort of pushed off to the side. It’s really going to be a central node of this development,” Rongé said.
MVE went for three buildings rather than a single structure because “having three buildings at different heights breaks up the massing and allows exterior circulation around the buildings,” Ronge said.
“This, coupled with the site location adjacent to the linear park, promotes a more pedestrian experience around the buildings,” Rongé said, adding that the design was also “intended to complement the surrounding neighborhood and surrounding buildings.”
“The idea is to make it feel like a comfortable neighborhood but still have a contemporary feel to the overall building.”
Sean Baba, MVE lead on the project, said that the exterior of the buildings is mostly stucco. There’s also aluminum long-board siding.
“We tried to keep the buildings simple,” Baba said.
Each of the U-shaped buildings opens into a courtyard.
Onsite amenities include a playground, two central laundry rooms, bike parking, a community room, and computer stations.
Wakeland named the building for Evan Becker because, “He was a true affordable housing champion” Huff said. “Mr. Becker was instrumental in advancing the inclusion of affordable housing in large scale developments like Riverwalk.”
Huff said that the Becker is among six affordable apartment projects that Wakeland is building in San Diego.
“The demand for affordable housing is as strong as it’s ever been,” Huff said, adding that Wakeland Housing will start an interest list of prospective tenants for the Becker about six months before construction is finished.
“There could be six people on the interest list for every one apartment,” Huff said. “We do a lottery system to select names from the interest list and start working through the income qualifications. We will move people in in the summer of 2027.”
Wakeland Housing
FOUNDED: 1998
CEO: Rebecca Louie
Headquarters: Downtown San Diego
Business: Affordable housing developer
Website: www.wakelandhdc.com
Employees: 57
Contact: 619-235-2296
Notable: Wakeland has created nearly 9,000 affordable homes at 68 properties throughout California.
MVE + Partners
FOUNDED: 1974
HEADQUARTERS: Irvine
PRESIDENT & DIRECTOR, DESIGN: Matthew McLarand
BUSINESS: architecture
EMPLOYEES: 85
WEBSITE: www.mve-architects.com
CONTACT: [email protected]
NOTABLE: MVE + Partners has helped shape San Diego’s communities over 40 years, from the Riverwalk Master Plan to 9th & Broadway. Its Downtown office fosters new growth in local markets.
A native of New England, Ray Huard has been a reporter at newspapers in California, Florida and New England, including The (Jacksonville) Florida Times-Union, the Miami Herald, the Palm Beach Post in West Palm Beach, the San Diego Union-Tribune, the North County Times, and the San Diego Business Journal. He has covered a wide variety of beats including real estate, politics, science, the environment, state and city government and courts.
Originally published San Diego Business Journal
