San Diego Business Journal | Wakeland Working to Fill Growing Gap In Affordable Housing
- May 20
- 3 min read
By Jeff Clemetson
Wakeland Housing is doing its part in keeping the San Diego region from falling further behind the state’s other major metropolitan region in developing affordable housing.
The downtown-based developer is cutting the ribbon this month on a $48.5 million, 85-unit project that will bring needed affordable housing for seniors in North County, La Sábila Apartments at 2357 South Santa Fe Ave. in the unincorporated part of Vista officially opens Feb. 25.
The project — designed by Dahlin Architects and built by general contractor Sun Country Builders — is a two-story U-shaped building connected by walkways, elevators and a central courtyard with outdoor amenities. There is also a community space for onsite services and social activities.
“An important thing about this project, it’s more than just housing. We’re adding in services to make sure seniors have everything they need to live independently now and in the future,” said Wakeland Housing CEO Rebecca Louie, adding that partners West PACE and County of San Diego Health and Human Services Behavioral Health Services will provide residents with resources needed to stay housed, get employment and make friends. “We put a lot of effort into community building because isolation is a real problem for seniors.”
To qualify for one of the studio apartments, residents must be low-income seniors aged 55 and older, earning between 30% and 60% of the Area Median Income — approximately $31,272 to $69,480 a year for a one-person household or up to $79,380 a year for a two-person household. La Sábila has also earmarked 42 of the apartments for seniors over 62 years old who are exiting homelessness by utilizing County of San Diego’s Project-Based Vouchers program for very low-income tenants.
The subsidies are part of the $11 million the county paid into the project. Other funding for the project included more than $27 million from low-income housing tax credit equity provided by Wells Fargo Bank from tax credits allocated by the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee and little over $10 million from a Freddie Mac Perm Loan.
“Affordable housing always includes a mix of funding sources,” Louie said, adding that the money from the county allows Wakeland Housing to “move in very low-income seniors and have them paying 30% of their income toward rent. It’s an incredible gift to the residents coming in.”
Regional Affordable Housing on Decline
Incredible gifts like the subsidy from the county are becoming more important to affordable housing developers. According to recent analysis by RentCafe, San Diego is the only metro area in California where affordable housing construction has decreased in recent years. The San Diego region also had the smallest share of its construction dedicated to affordable housing — just 19.2% compared to one-third of construction in San Francisco, the Central Valley and Central Coast regions of the state and 20% in every other region.
Still, San Diego’s 4,064 affordable units built between 2020 and 2024 places the region as the fourth largest builder of affordable housing in the state and 22nd nationwide, according to RentCafe. However, by comparison, San Francisco, Central Valley and Sacramento saw their affordable units more than double in the post-pandemic years.
La Sábila is one of several projects Wakeland will bring online in the near future that will help close San Diego’s affordable housing development gap — one that Louie said is more pronounced in North County where “there’s an incredible need for affordable housing.”
Additional Wakeland Housing projects in the pipeline for San Diego include Catro, delivering 117 units for veterans and families in City Heights this year; the 74-unit Teralta, also in City Heights and expected this year; the 94-unit Union Tower in National City expected this year; and the 190-unit Becker project in San Diego that will start its tenant listings in early 2027.
Louie pointed out that getting money for affordable housing from the county and local cities is extremely competitive as those agencies “get far more applications for funding than they have funds to go out the door.”
Wakeland Housing is taking a proactive approach to funding by advocating for bond initiatives as well as entering creative partnerships with nonprofits like Price Philanthropies, which recently provided gap funding for one of its projects in City Heights.
“So we’re trying to find non-traditional ways to go about getting [more housing] built in this time of limited resources,” Louie said.
Wakeland Housing
Founded: 1998
CEO: Rebecca Louie
Headquarters: Downtown San Diego
Business: Affordable housing developer
Employees: 55
Website: www.wakelandhdc.com
Notable: Wakeland Housing has built 9,000 affordable apartments in 69 projects throughout California.