{"id":98584,"date":"2025-07-28T05:34:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T05:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/98584\/"},"modified":"2025-07-28T05:34:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T05:34:12","slug":"sd-foundation-sandag-direct-14m-to-equitable-affordable-housing-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/98584\/","title":{"rendered":"SD Foundation, SANDAG direct $14M to equitable, affordable housing projects"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sdfoundation.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">San Diego Foundation<\/a> and SANDAG have announced the distribution of $14 million in state funding to 10 affordable and climate-conscious housing projects, totaling 966 units.<\/p>\n<p>The housing is scheduled to open between December 2026 and June 2030.<\/p>\n<p>The capital comes from California\u2019s Regional Early Access Program, or REAP 2.0, according to a July 16 press release.<\/p>\n<p>REAP 2.0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hcd.ca.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/docs\/grants-and-funding\/reap\/mpo-reap-2-0-final-guidelines.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">guidelines<\/a> cover the funding of housing projects that foster inclusive communities, reduce the number of miles driven by residents and include <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofsandiego.com\/business\/2025\/07\/17\/developers-in-del-mar-press-city-to-act-on-seaside-ridge-housing-plan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">affordable<\/a> units for households with moderate or low incomes.<\/p>\n<p>Launched in 2021, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sandag.org\/projects-and-programs\/regional-initiatives\/housing-and-land-use\/reap-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">REAP 2.0 <\/a>includes plans to distribute approximately $600 million to housing projects throughout the state. The majority goes to developments that meet affordability, equity and sustainability standards.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hcd.ca.gov\/grants-and-funding\/programs-active\/regional-early-action-planning-grants-of-2021\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Most<\/a> REAP 2.0 funds pass through metropolitan planning organizations \u2014 like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sandag.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SANDAG<\/a>, the regional planning agency for San Diego County.<\/p>\n<p>SANDAG selected the San Diego Foundation to distribute REAP 2.0 money in the region, which the foundation does via their San Diego Housing Fund.<\/p>\n<p>Foundation CFO and housing fund Managing Partner James Howell said the organization selected 10 of the 24 project applications in the latest REAP 2.0 grant cycle \u2014 including developments with more than 100 planned units in San Diego communities, including Mid-City, San Ysidro and City Heights, along with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sandiegocounty.gov\/content\/dam\/sdc\/dgs\/Doc\/gis\/AFH-ValleyParkway.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Escondido<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen evaluating projects for REAP 2.0 funding, our primary focus was on maximizing the positive impact for San Diego communities through the creation of much-needed affordable housing,\u201d Howell said. \u201cWe assessed each proposal holistically to determine its potential to meaningfully address the region\u2019s housing challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/timesofsandiego.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screenshot-2025-07-25-at-2.47.27-PM.png?ssl=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"245\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screenshot-2025-07-25-at-2.47.27-PM.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-333841\"  \/><\/a>San Diego Foundation CFO and San Diego Housing Fund Managing Partner James Howell. (Courtesy of the San Diego Foundation)<\/p>\n<p>Howell said that another factor in the selection process was proximity to public transit.<\/p>\n<p>According to Howell, REAP grants save developers 1% to 24% per unit, depending on the project.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAffordable housing developers face a number of hurdles, such as the high cost of land and labor and materials, as well as navigating local permitting processes,\u201d Howell said. \u201cREAP 2.0 provides a valuable funding resource, but continued collaboration between developers, public agencies and sources of funding is needed to tackle barriers that inhibit housing access and affordability.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans \u2014 a nonprofit advocacy and service organization focused on refugees in San Diego \u2014 received a $1 million grant for their 150-unit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.minneapolisfed.org\/article\/1998\/what-does-mixeduse-development-mean\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">mixed-use<\/a> development in Mid-City, according to PANA Director for Strategic Partnerships and Development Rachel Lozano Castro.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/timesofsandiego.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screenshot-2025-07-25-at-2.49.34-PM.png?ssl=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"245\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Screenshot-2025-07-25-at-2.49.34-PM.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-333842\"  \/><\/a>PANA Director of Strategic Partnerships and Development Rachel Lozano Castro. (Courtesy of Rachel Lozano Castro)<\/p>\n<p>In addition to affordable housing units with up to four bedrooms, the development, called the <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofsandiego.com\/life\/2024\/12\/09\/a-vision-of-hope-san-diego-unveils-refugee-and-immigrant-culture-hub\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Refugee &amp; Immigrant Cultural Hub<\/a>, will have community spaces, offices for nonprofits and a global market where refugees and immigrants can open businesses.<\/p>\n<p>Castro said the REAP 2.0 grant will be spent on the hub\u2019s predevelopment costs, which includes finalizing architectural designs. <\/p>\n<p>She called the hub a comprehensive approach to building affordable housing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the main tenets of REAP is to think of affordable housing with adjacent infrastructure,\u201d Castro said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s climate resilience built-in with belonging and community gathering spaces,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>According to the project\u2019s website, the organization has raised 60% of the development\u2019s costs from government and other affordable housing sources and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.globalvillagesd.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">intends to raise<\/a> an additional $54 million from the public for construction.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s shared services,\u201d Castro said of the hub\u2019s mixed-use design. \u201cBut also a collective action can happen.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The San Diego Foundation and SANDAG have announced the distribution of $14 million in state funding to 10&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":98585,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[852,5229,1582,276,10087,59454,64509,3549,64510,39664,50782,7264,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-98584","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-affordable-housing","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-escondido","13":"tag-mid-city","14":"tag-partnership-for-the-advancement-of-new-americans","15":"tag-san-diego","16":"tag-san-diego-foundation","17":"tag-san-ysidro","18":"tag-sandag","19":"tag-sandiego","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-united-states-of-america","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","24":"tag-us","25":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114929235585894914","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}