CedarGatewayApts-SanDiegoCA_HEROLocation:San Diego
Developers:ROEM Corp., Squier Properties, and
Pacific Housing
Builder:ROEM Builders
Architect: Silber Architects
Number of units: 65
Unit mix:One-, two-, and three-bedrooms
Rents: $382 to $930

Cedar Gateway Apartments was the first affordable housing project in California to receive federal stimulus funds through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The 65-unit development provides affordable housing for previously homeless and disabled adults and seniors.

Along with $17 million in ARRA funds, including $3 million in gap financing that replaced funds lost because of the recession, the project used money from the Mental Health Service Act Housing Program. The program is funded through California Proposition 63, which imposes a 1 percent tax on personal income in excess of $1 million.

The seven-story project features more than 4,300 square feet of ground-level retail as well as 23 units designated for residents who earn 25 percent or less of the area median income (AMI) and 42 units for residents at or below 60 percent of the AMI. Rents are subsidized by the Capitalized Operating Subsidy Reserve, which provides $2.3 million for units for the Mental Health Service Act program.

Cedar Gateway’s residents are also eligible to receive services and support from the Heritage Clinic or the Community Research Foundation, a locally based services- and rehabilitation-oriented organization.

The community features a contemporary theme consistent with many other new downtown buildings and complements the 84-year-old Bradley-Woolman St. Cecilia’s chapel next door. The development is 100 percent occupied.