A line of shovels were planted in the dirt next to a large yellow tractor.

A pile of concrete lay just beyond the rubble of the recently demolished San Diego City College child development center. 

A couple dozen meters away, tents were propped up and chairs placed as part of a special groundbreaking ceremony for an affordable housing complex on the downtown campus. 

“During my time at City College, I have met many students who do not have access to stable, affordable housing,” Associated Student Government President Diego Bethea said at the Oct. 20 event.

The ceremony marked the latest step in the progress being made to provide affordable housing on the campus of City College – a first for a community college in San Diego County.

Officials from the city, including San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, joined Joel Peterson from the San Diego Community College District and City College President Ricky Shabazz in sharing details and expectations for the project.

“The San Diego Community College District is doing its part to tackle the most pressing issue in our city, which is housing and homelessness,” Gloria said.

Joel Peterson, the district’s vice chancellor of facilities management, said exact details on the status of the housing project are still up in the air.

“The final design of this affordable student housing is still evolving,” he said. “But the conceptual design has been established to provide us some guidance.” 

The complex, to be located on the corner of 16th and C streets, is expected to house more than 800 students and rent at below-market rates, according to a document released by City College.

The concept features a wide variety of apartments ranging from single and multi-studio apartments to semi-suites, including laundry, kitchen and living spaces, according to Peterson.

“We’re gonna have 800 students coming to all the spaces in our campus,” said María-José Zeledón-Pérez, president of the college’s academic senate, “bringing the life (to campus), bringing their families, truly creating community.”

While progress is steady, construction of the complex is not expected to begin until next year, as site preparation has yet to be completed.

Construction is projected to be completed in 2028, according to a document released by City College.

Additionally, funding is not yet fully secured. City College received $75 million in grants from California’s Affordable Student Housing Program, but is only a fraction of the estimated $280 million needed to construct the complex.

City College entered a private/public partnership with the Michaels Organization, a private housing developer, constructor and investment advisor, to help secure the remaining cash.

“What they’re doing (the Michaels Organization) is they’re backstopping our funding sources, with the ability to bring in their balance sheet and make up the total difference,” Peterson said. “There is essentially no likelihood that they would not be able to do the funding.” 

The partnership also allows City College to avoid certain costly restrictions that public works projects could face alone.

The complex will also be limited in height, not because of its proximity to the airport, but because of earthquake regulations, according to Peterson. 

While the building lies outside of the San Diego Airport flight corridor, increases in building height incurs stricter earthquake regulations, which would increase construction costs.

“Part of what we’ll be doing to make sure that we can build at the lowest possible cost, to pass those on as low rental rates, is that we are going to keep below certain heights of the building,” Peterson said.