A conceptual plan for building townhome-style residential units near San Marcos Creek has focused attention on a medium-density approach observers say may serve as a template for relieving a housing affordability crisis many agree is hurting the region’s economy.
The London Group’s city-sponsored analysis of the Creek District Specific Plan proposes row homes three or four stories high as a compromise between high-rise residential found downtown and single-family homes common in suburban areas.
Local architects, designers and real estate developers see the plan as a model that might be duplicated in other parts of San Diego County, particularly in areas where retail and other commercial properties have outlived their usefulness.
The idea of multistory family housing in close proximity is not entirely novel locally, and the proposal is a long way from any decision to begin construction. But aspects of the proposal — its location along busy thoroughfares, for example — may make it uniquely palatable to residents and voters who have rejected other housing development projects in San Diego County.
‘Wave of the future’
Development consultant Alan Nevin said the kind of townhomes at the heart of The London Group’s plan work well in other parts of the country and may be the “wave of the future” locally.
“It is unrealistic to think that San Diegans are all going to live in either detached homes or in high-rises,” said the director of economic and market research at San Diego-based consultancy Xpera Group.
Architect and planner Mark Steele said while the proposal raises gentrification issues and won’t necessarily address housing affordability, it represents a step forward in the kind of “infill housing” seen in mature cities that over time must reinvent their neighborhoods.
He sees San Diegans growing more comfortable with the level of density presented in the Creek District plan, partly because companies developing in-fill projects are paying more attention to amenities that can make moderate-density housing attractive. He noted there’s not much room left for expanding housing into untouched “greenfields.”
“The infill projects are what we’re seeing a lot of, which is a good thing,” he said.
Pain in the Price
Housing affordability is a growing problem for San Diego’s business community. Recent surveys suggest companies are having more trouble recruiting and retaining workers unable to afford a place to live within a reasonable distance from their job.
The San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce’s August 2016 Business Forecast said 44 percent of companies surveyed deemed local housing “much too expensive,” while 63 percent agreed building more housing in the county is at least “somewhat important.”
Proposals to build new housing aren’t always welcomed, however.
Earlier this month, county voters defeated Measure B, which would have allowed San Diego developer Accretive Investments to build 1,746 homes on unincorporated county land near Escondido called Lilac Hills Ranch. The developer took the project to voters after it appeared to face an uphill battle with the county Board of Supervisors.
The measure lost with only 35.8 percent of the vote in favor, versus 64.2 percent against.
Shifting Plan
The London Group’s plan for San Marcos’ Creek District is not so much a development proposal as it is a proposed revision to the city’s pre-recession goal of developing dense housing above ground-level retail, restaurants and office space.
Originally, the project was to contain 1.2 million square feet of retail, 589,000 square feet of office space and some 2,300 residential units. All of this was to be spread over 214 acres — not all of it developable — south of San Marcos Boulevard, generally west of Grand Avenue and north and east of Discovery Street.
London Group Principal Gary London concluded the area needed much less retail space than called for earlier. He proposed a different mix of housing that would include some detached, single-family homes and less overall residential density, with more of a focus on townhomes.
“It feels more urban but it’s still quite accommodative for families or other market segments,” London said. He compared the housing described in the study with the row home he lives in downtown.
The San Marcos project’s housing density — much less than the hundreds of units per acre seen downtown — would be less expensive to build than a typical, suburban development, London said. It would also accommodate the demographic group cities are most anxious to attract, he said: millennials hoping to settle down and start families.
Like West LA
Row homes are not a foreign concept in the region, he added, pointing to similar projects in downtown Escondido, a few in the Chula Vista area and shopkeeper units in parts of La Jolla. Such development is more common in Los Angeles County, especially in the area between Santa Monica and Beverly Hills.
Townhome-type units common in West LA “don’t feel that dense. They just feel pretty cool,” he said. “It’s the something in between.”
San Marcos City Manager Jack Griffin said the city’s Creek District plans never really stirred concerns about density. The main reason the city hired The London Group to revisit the proposal, he said, was the area’s reduced demand for retail space in the age of online shopping.
Griffin sees the area’s location along a major thoroughfare, as well as the area around Cal State San Marcos, as well-suited to the kind of housing London proposes.
San Marcos Councilman Chris Orlando views the latest version of the Creek District concept as offering “exceptional” quality of life in a project that integrates well with the rest of the community.
“I see it as a way to really redefine how we approach providing a variety of housing opportunities within a suburban environment — making housing available for more families, but ensuring that the character and quality of life of the community is preserved,” he said by email.
A Fit Just About Everywhere?
Across the county, there are countless places where such a product would work, starting with commercial areas that aren’t living up to expectations, San Diego designer Frank Wolden said.
Considering the lack of available open space and the high cost of building roads and other infrastructure, as well as related issues like traffic, “it’s kind of a thing we should be considering just about everywhere,” said the principal at AVRP Skyport Studios.
The bigger question, he said, is how to make such developments right for broad swaths of the population, including senior citizens, youth and families with several generations living together.
San Diego developer Gary Levitt, owner of Sea Breeze Properties LLC, called London’s concept “wonderful” in the way it would make the area more walkable and livable with less underused commercial space.
But for such projects to proceed, he said, they must be presented to the community correctly, alongside ample parks and schools to serve the new residents.
“It has to be explained in a positive way,” he said.
