Vista, Calif. – National CORE, the San Diego Community Housing Corporation and partners on May 15 broke ground for Santa Fe Senior Village, a new community in the City of Vista that will provide 54 homes to seniors experiencing homelessness.
Construction, which is expected to take about a year, will transform a once-vacant plot of land into a transit-oriented community close to the Vista Transit Center Station, expanding mobility options throughout the northern San Diego region.
“This community will give seniors a beautiful and safe place to call their home,” National CORE President Michael Ruane said. “We at National CORE are so excited to be part of developing Santa Fe Village. These apartment homes and high-quality services will ensure our residents thrive.”
The new Permanent Supportive Housing community will be in the charming downtown district of Vista on land acquired in 2021. Developed by National CORE and the San Diego Community Housing Corporation, Santa Fe Senior Village will provide fully furnished studio and one-bedroom apartments to senior residents, ages 62 and better.
Santa Fe Senior Village is within walking distance of a grocery store, public park, medical clinic, public library and restaurants. Onsite amenities include a community center with private case management offices, a community garden and patio, a computer lab and barbecue areas.
“Communities like this are important because it gives seniors experiencing homelessness housing stability. As the region continues to address its unhoused population, the San Diego Community Housing Corporation is proud to be part of the effort to lessen this crisis,” San Diego Community Housing Corporation President/CEO Ted Miyahara.
San Diego County’s unhoused population rose by 10% since 2022, with the numbers likely underreported, according to the county’s Point-in-Time Count. Adults ages 55 and better make up one in four community members who are unhoused, with 43% of unsheltered seniors experiencing homelessness for the first time in their lives. Older adult homelessness is largely a result of economic circumstances, such as insufficient retirement incomes, unaffordable housing options, disability or job loss.
Santa Fe Senior Village is National CORE’s third 100% Permanent Supportive Housing community for seniors in the region and its fourth overall in San Diego County. San Ysidro Senior Village, in San Ysidro, and Nestor Senior Village, in San Diego, also house seniors experiencing homelessness; the latter is expected to open this fall. Greenbrier Village, located in the City of Oceanside, is the fourth PSH community; it is open to all ages and began construction earlier this year.
“The Santa Fe Senior Village is not just about building homes, but about providing hope and dignity to the growing unhoused population in the North County,” San Diego Supervisor Jim Desmond said. “This development will help address the critical need for affordable housing and supportive services for seniors in San Diego County. By creating a transit-oriented community, we are not only increasing accessibility to mobility options throughout the northern San Diego region but also fostering a sense of community and belonging for our senior residents. I am proud to support this community, and I believe it will serve as a model for future collaborative efforts to address homelessness in our region,” San Diego Supervisor Jim Desmond said.
Committed to building high-quality sustainable communities, National CORE anticipates that Santa Fe Senior Village will receive a LEED for Homes certification at the gold level or better.
Funding for the property was made possible by Hudson Housing Capital, Capital One, the City of Vista, the County of San Diego’s HOME Funds, No Place like Home Program and the Innovative Housing Trust Funds.
“The City of Vista welcomes partnering with National CORE for the Santa Fe Senior Village project. This community joins the City’s growing portfolio of affordable and supportive housing opportunities for those who most need it,” City of Vista Manager John Conley said. “When it opens, Santa Fe Senior Village will not only provide housing, but it will also provide vital social services to its residents as well as offering a sense of community as well as access to transportation with North County Transit District’s nearby transit center.”
Hope through Housing Foundation, County of San Diego Behavioral Health, San Diego’s Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly and the Veterans Administration will provide onsite supportive services to help residents maintain housing stability.
“Sante Fe Senior Village simultaneously advances the County of San Diego’s Age Well Strategy, Framework for Ending Homelessness, Behavioral Health Continuum of Care, and affordable housing strategy,” the County’s Health and Human Services Agency and Executive Director of the Housing Authority of the County of San Diego Nick Macchione said. “At a time when housing has become unaffordable for too many people in our region, the County is all in on partnering to build affordable housing and pairing that housing with services.”
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About National CORE
National CORE is one of the largest nonprofit developers in the nation, with a 30-year history of being an innovator in the field. In 2021 National CORE became one of only two affordable housing developers to earn an A+ credit rating from Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings. In 2022, National CORE issued $100 million in Series 2022 Social Bonds to accelerate the development of critically needed affordable housing. Serving more than 25,000 residents, National CORE strives to be a launching pad, not a landing pad, for families struggling financially. In 1998 National CORE created the Hope through Housing Foundation, a philanthropic nonprofit, whose mission is to end the cycle of generational poverty through resident services that promote educational attainment, economic mobility, and overall wellbeing.
About Hope through Housing Foundation
Hope through Housing believes that affordable housing can be a platform for transformational change at the individual and neighborhood level. For more than 20 years, the Hope through Housing Foundation has provided more than 2 million hours of transformational social services helping children and teens achieve success, improving families’ financial well-being, and promoting seniors’ health and wellness. For more information on Hope through Housing, please visit www.hthf.org.
About San Diego Community Housing Corporation
San Diego Community Housing Corporation is a housing and community development organization, recognized for developing, preserving, and maintaining quality housing developments that support individuals, families and neighborhoods, in reaching their fullest potential. Founded in 1994 as a California 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization, SDCHC is dedicated to the development of affordable housing that offers a host of resident services designed to assist residents in achieving the goal of upward economic mobility. For more information, please visit www.sdchc.org.
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