The San Diego City Council voted yesterday to approve a $4.5 million Bridge to Home loan to help build the 40th & Alpha Apartments in Southcrest. The two-building project is planned on city-owned land and is slated to deliver 91 permanently affordable apartments plus a manager’s unit, an on-site childcare center and outdoor play space. City housing documents show the development will be reserved for households earning roughly 30% to 60% of the area's median income.
What the development will include
According to the San Diego Housing Commission loan packet, the project will rise as two structures: a six-story building with 78 units above parking and a three-story building with 14 apartments and a 2,400-square-foot childcare center that includes an approximately 1,800-square-foot outdoor play area. The plans also call for a community room, computer lab, laundry facilities, bicycle parking, and a 1,200-square-foot courtyard for residents. CHW's Achieve Resident Services is slated to provide on-site programming at no cost. Affordability restrictions are set to remain in place for 55 years.
How the project is being financed
The city is putting in a $4.5 million Bridge to Home loan to close a financing gap and push the project forward, according to a city update, as the Council voted. Bridge to Home is a short-term gap-financing tool launched by Mayor Todd Gloria to speed construction of affordable homes, and Round Seven of the program has $16.5 million available for new awards, according to the City of San Diego. City officials say these loans help developers lock in tax credits and other long-term funding faster so projects can reach construction more quickly.
Timeline and next steps
Project documents indicate the team plans to apply for 4% low-income housing tax credits in May and seek a state bond allocation in August. If those awards come through, the developer is aiming to start construction in early 2027 and finish in 2029. The San Diego Housing Commission packet outlines a full financing stack for an estimated $49.7 million project budget, combining the city’s Bridge to Home loan with a proposed SDHC residual receipts loan and county trust funds. Neighbors, housing advocates and the development team will be watching CDLAC and tax-credit decisions this summer, since those rulings will largely determine whether the schedule holds.
Why this matters for Southcrest
The 40th & Alpha project would reuse city land in Southeastern San Diego to deliver family-oriented affordable housing plus an on-site childcare center that could make life easier for working parents. The Bridge to Home program has been used to accelerate affordable housing across the city, with hundreds of homes completed and more in the pipeline as San Diego continues to deploy gap loans to close stubborn funding shortfalls, according to the City of San Diego. The next big checkpoints - tax-credit awards, loan closings and a construction start - will show whether the 40th & Alpha timeline laid out by city staff is realistic or due for a shakeup.
