Chelsea Investment Corporation

Apr 10, 2023

SDSU selects developer to build 182 affordable apartments at Mission Valley campus San Diego State University has picked Carlsbad-based, for-profit affordable housing builder Chelsea Investment Corporation to build the school’s first income-restricted residential units at its Mission Valley campus. (Courtesy, Joseph Wong Design Associates) Picked through a competitive bidding process, Chelsea Investment Corporation and the university still need to negotiate deal terms for the affordable housing project. Construction is anticipated to start in 2025. By Jennifer Van Grove Print San Diego State University has picked Carlsbad-based Chelsea Investment Corp. to build the first income-restricted apartments at the university’s Mission Valley campus. Monday, the school announced that the for-profit affordable housing developer was selected through a competitive bidding process. The firm plans to erect a 182-unit residential building with units reserved for families making between 30 percent and 60 percent of the area median income. This story is for subscribers We offer subscribers exclusive access to our best journalism. Thank you for your support. Advertisement “SDSU has always been committed to the inclusion of affordable housing on-site at Mission Valley,” Gina Jacobs, a university executive overseeing development at Mission Valley, said in a statement. “In partnership with Chelsea, which has strong experience and success in developing similar projects, we are taking a big step toward fulfilling our long-standing commitment.” The project will be located a block east of the Mission Valley site’s first planned market-rent apartments and is within walking distance of the school’s recently completed Snapdragon Stadium. Plans call for 63, one-bedroom units; 60, two-bedroom units; 54, three-bedroom units and five, four-bedroom units in a seven-story, pet-friendly building with two floors of above-ground, structured parking. The project also features a community room, computer lab, and bike storage, as well as a 6,220 square-foot child care facility, to be operated by Episcopal Community Services, that’s expected to serve 70 preschoolers. With the selection, the parties will now enter into an exclusive negotiating period to finalize the terms of the deal. Construction of the affordable units is expected to begin in 2025, the school said. Per the anticipated terms of its deal with the university, Chelsea will have the opportunity to build an additional 109 subsidized residential units in a second phase if the first project is successful, Jacobs said. Started in 1984, Chelsea is an experienced affordable housing builder, having produced nearly 8,000 units in the San Diego region, including 407 units at Father Joe’s Villages’ Saint Teresa of Calcutta Villa in East Village . The firm is also part of the Midway Rising development team selected by the city of San Diego to lease and redo its real estate at 3220, 3240, 3250 and 3500 Sports Arena Blvd. “It is a great honor for our team to be selected to develop the first affordable housing community at SDSU Mission Valley,” Cheri Hoffman, Chelsea’s president, said in a statement. “We have watched the initial transformation of the former stadium site and look forward to being a partner on this redevelopment effort, which will be an asset to our community for years to come.” Affordable housing is a specific housing type often defined as subsidized residential units reserved for families making 80 percent or less of the area median income, and includes senior housing and veteran housing. In San Diego, the median income for a family of four is $106,900. Affordable housing developers rely on government subsidies — usually state and federal tax credits and sometimes local contributions — to finance the production of units that must then be reserved for low-income households. Rent and income restrictions are set by California’s Department of Housing and Community Development and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Multifamily housing developer AvalonBay will build the site’s first residential units opposite Snapdragon Stadium on parcels currently used for parking. In August 2020, SDSU purchased the city’s former Mission Valley stadium site along Friars Road for a satellite campus. The school, which paid $88 million for the property, is required by the deal it struck with the city to set aside 10 percent of total residential units, or 460 units, for low-income families making 60 percent or less of the area median income. The agreement also expressly prohibits the university from specifically reserving the affordable units for students. Students may, however, qualify to rent the units if they meet income requirements. “If I recall correctly, the city does not have a classification for students in their affordable housing rules and wanted us to abide by their existing rules for tenant qualification,” Jacobs told the Union-Tribune. “We will work collaboratively with the campus community to ensure any eligible students are aware of the affordable housing opportunity.” The master plan for the Mission Valley site calls for a total of 4,600 residential units. The campus plan also includes the completed stadium, 1.6 million square feet of office and research facilities, 80 acres of parks and open space, 400 hotel rooms and 95,000 square feet of campus shops. San Diego State announced in March that developer LPC West would build the first research buildings at the Mission Valley site. AvalonBay Communities was picked last year to construct the first market-rate residential units.