The article below is from the San Diego Business Journal (Vol 39, No. 1)
by Sarah de Crescenzo
There are few more important issues facing San Diego than its systemic issues with the creation of affordable housing.
The San Diego chapter of the nonprofit organization Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC) aims to play a significant role in ameliorating that in 2018.
In fall 2017 LISC San Diego announced it would form a coalition of government agencies, financial firms and lending institutions to raise a $50 million affordable housing fund, an initiative intended to help accelerate the construction of low-income apartment units throughout the county.
The organization’s executive director, Ricardo Flores, said the agency intends to bring together capital from individual investors, agencies, banks, corporations and locally based foundations to finance the creation of affordable housing for San Diegans.
“We’re aiming to take a leadership role in jump-starting these projects, which are sorely needed as government and private interests work together to ease our region’s growing housing crisis,” Flores said at the time of the announcement in October 2017. “We’re committed to our role as a prime facilitator in the months and years ahead.”
Private investment is slated to be matched by the national office of LISC in New York. The organization has offices in more than 30 cities nationwide, including San Diego.
And LISC has a track record locally: since it was founded in 1991, the agency has invested $232 million in grants, loans, and equity investments in low-income communities in San Diego, leveraging $1 billion in total development
costs. That has led to the creation of more than 6,000 affordable rental housing units and the development of 1 million square feet of retail and commercial space.
The new fund, LISC says, is intended to lead to the construction of 2,500 units of low-income housing. That could save low-income families about $15 million in rent, according to LISC.