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. Bank
U.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.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20150323005898/en/
Copyright Business Wire 2015