Atmosphere Affordable Housing Development in Downtown San Diego Secures Financing; Construction to Begin on March 24
24 March 2015 - 2:30AM
Business Wire
Wakeland Housing and Development Corporation has closed on
financing from U.S. Bank for the highly anticipated, $79.3 million
Atmosphere affordable and supportive housing development in
downtown San Diego. The project will break ground Tuesday on a site
that has been vacant for more than a decade despite previous
developers’ attempts to redevelop it.
Rendering of Atmosphere affordable
housing development in downtown San Diego (Photo: Wakeland Housing
and Development Corporation)
U.S. Bank’s financing paves the way for Wakeland to develop a
205 unit, 12-story apartment complex in the heart of downtown San
Diego. The project will include 51 supportive housing units for
individuals with special needs, including formerly homeless, and
will have an on-site learning center where residents can access
workforce development training and financial literacy workshops.
There is also ground-floor space for a small retail store or café
that has yet to be leased.
“Atmosphere provides safe, high-quality housing at what had
simply been a vacant lot in downtown San Diego. Located in close
proximity to stores, public transportation and other resources to
help low-income or homeless individuals to integrate into the
vibrant surrounding neighborhood,” said Richard Shea, market
manager for U.S. Bank’s affordable-housing lending division.
U.S. Bank and Wakeland closed on $52 million in construction
lending, some of which will be replaced during development with a
$44 million tax-credit equity investment through its community
development subsidiary, U.S. Bancorp Community Development
Corporation, to complete a financing package that also includes
funding from the San Diego Housing Commission, Civic San Diego,
Mental Health Services Act program of the California Housing
Finance Agency.
“Wakeland began working on the development and financing for
Atmosphere in 2009, and when the State of California took away
redevelopment a few years later, the future of this project became
uncertain,” said Wakeland President and CEO Ken Sauder. “Without
U.S. Bank’s financing in place, coupled with other State and City
sources, we wouldn’t be breaking ground today.”
In the mid-2000s, several developers attempted to build
condominium projects at the site. The result of these failed
attempts was a site with a huge hole that was both an eyesore and a
hazard. In 2009, Wakeland entered into a Purchase and Sale
agreement and began working with the City of San Diego’s
redevelopment agency to fill the hole and acquire the property for
affordable housing. After the dissolution of redevelopment in
California in 2013, the site was transferred to the City’s
redevelopment successor, Civic San Diego, which worked with
Wakeland and other public and private organizations to pave the
path for Atmosphere.
The development is composed of studios to three-bedrooms for
tenants who earn between 30 percent and 60 percent of the area
median income. Rent will range from $394 to $1,191 a month.
Construction is expected to be complete in February 2017.
Suffolk Construction of Boston is the general contractor and Joseph
Wong Design Associates is the architect.
About U.S. BankU.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB), with $403
billion in assets as of December 31, 2014, is the parent company of
U.S. Bank National Association, the 5th largest commercial bank in
the United States. The company operates 3,176 banking offices in 25
states and 5,022 ATMs and provides a comprehensive line of banking,
brokerage, insurance, investment, mortgage, trust and payment
services products to consumers, businesses and institutions. Visit
U.S. Bancorp on the web at usbank.com.
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U.S. Bank Corporate CommunicationsPat Swanson,
651-587-3590patrick.swanson@usbank.com
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