Health services provider UnitedHealth Group announced Jan. 26 that it is investing $15 million to help finance a homeless services and residential community being built in downtown San Diego.
The announcement came as the project’s developers and city officials held a morning ceremony to kick off construction at World Trade Center, an historic office building on Sixth Avenue that is being converted to build the homeless center, known as Connections Housing.
A statement from Minneapolis-based UnitedHealth Group said the financing contribution is part of the company’s $50 million partnership with Enterprise Community Investment Inc. of Washington, D.C., backing affordable-housing projects in targeted communities throughout the United States.
Locally based Affirmed Housing Group and PATH Ventures, a program of the nonprofit People Assisting the Homeless, are co-developers of the San Diego center, partnering with Family Health Centers.
Connections Housing, at Sixth Avenue and A Street, will serve as a one-stop, year-round service center and shelter for the homeless, including a health clinic, commercial kitchen and related administrative offices.
The residential portion will have 73 studio units of permanent supportive housing, 16 transitional units, and 134 additional transitional housing beds, according to developers.
— Lou Hirsh
