San Diego Square

San Diego, California

Housing Development Partners/San Diego Housing Commission

156 Senior Units

San Diego Square was built in 1980 as a redevelopment project taking up an entire city block in downtown. The squat high-rise was wrapped with a low rise commercial structure along Broadway that essentially consisted of a 1970s looking suburban office but placed right in the heart of the city.  The high rise building  was visually dominated by long and unused balconies that were serving as low cost storage. This tax credit project allowed us to entirely reimagine the building. We expanded the bedrooms onto the balconies thereby creating new vertical towers of glass and properly scaled, protected balconies for the residents. With floor to ceiling glass in their bedrooms, the residents of this affordable senior tower can wake up in the morning with the city of San Diego at their feet. The project also included the conversion of an un-used ballroom to a vibrant new senior center. The facades of the low rise building were greatly improved with new features that meet the street giving it a more appropriate urban form. Our project spearheaded the revitalization of this crucial downtown neighborhood.