After decades of discussion and disagreement, affordable student housing in downtown San Diego has moved one step closer to reality.
A groundbreaking event Friday on the campus of San Diego City College marked the beginning of what will become an eight-story apartment complex for students. Rent could be as low as $1,000 per month for a studio.
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said the planned apartments are important for low-income students from marginalized communities.
"For too many people, we do not create the space for them to belong in San Diego," Gloria said before the groundbreaking. "We don’t say 'yes' enough to housing to allow them to feel as though they belong. That's particularly acute with young people who are pursuing higher education."
Demolition of the former City College child development center is completed to make way for the foundation of the affordable housing building.
"We’re going to have 800 students coming to all the spaces on our campus (in the new building) bringing life, bringing their families, and truly creating community," said María-José Zeledón-Pérez, the Academic Senate President and a communications professor at City College.
The San Diego Community College District is using a $75 million state grant to start design and construction in the next year at the corner of the property at 16th and C streets.
The additional $200 million needed will come from bond money and a capital fundraising campaign along with private donations.
Kimberly Kritzer was there to see the groundbreaking for a building she could have used during her studies. She graduated from City College in May with three associate degrees, despite family tragedies.
Her father died suddenly just before she started classes in 2021, and then a year later her mother died by suicide.
“I come from a housing insecurity background, food insecurity as well, and so I’ve been helped by social workers and so that’s why I wanted to become a social worker," said Kritzer.
Amid life's challenges, she has just started a bachelor’s degree program at San Diego State University. She is getting her need for food and housing met at the university’s Wesley House affordable apartment complex.
Kritzer's story is an example of the difficulties many community college students face in completing their education.
“I don’t ever want to end up in that situation like I was raised in, so my goal is to do the exact opposite and turn my life around. Education is my way out," she said.
