San Diego Housing Commission’s Affordable Housing Preservation Report Receives National Award of Excellence 

*This release was previously published by the San Diego Housing Commission on March 29, 2022.  

A San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC) report that analyzed affordable housing in the City of San Diego and provided strategies to preserve affordability has been honored with a prestigious national Award of Excellence from the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO). 

“This report was an essential step toward the City Council’s adoption of strategies to preserve affordability for existing housing units throughout the City of San Diego,” SDHC President & CEO Richard C. Gentry said. “I thank the Mayor, City Council and San Diego Housing Commission Board for their support of affordable housing preservation and congratulate the Housing Commission’s exceptional staff for this national recognition.” 

NAHRO Awards of Excellence recognize “outstanding innovation and achievement in housing and community development programs throughout the country.” Only 18 programs or projects nationwide received NAHRO Awards of Excellence this year. 

Creating a strategy to enhance preservation required a clear understanding of the existing housing inventory in the City of San Diego. To address this, SDHC created a comprehensive database of deed-restricted affordable rental housing units citywide. With this database established, SDHC commissioned a study to analyze the data, identify the City of San Diego’s housing preservation needs, estimate costs for addressing the challenges, and recommend a framework with strategies for policymakers to consider to achieve the necessary affordable housing preservation objectives. 

To complete this study, SDHC contracted with HR&A Advisors, a consulting firm with more than 40 years of experience in real estate and economic development, in partnership with The National Housing Trust, which has more than 30 years of experience in affordable housing preservation nationwide. SDHC staff also were instrumental to the completion of the study. 

SDHC published the report, “Preserving Affordable Housing in the City of San Diego,” on May 28, 2020. The report provided a current housing inventory in the City of San Diego, including a first-of-its-kind inventory of naturally occurring affordable housing; cost estimates for preserving housing at risk of losing its affordability; and strategies to preserve affordability. 

After City Council Land Use and Housing Committee discussions related to the report and its recommendations, the San Diego City Council on October 27, 2020, approved seven actions proposed to implement a strategy for affordable housing preservation in the City of San Diego. 

For more information about SDHC, visit www.sdhc.org.