Columba Affordable Multi-family Housing Development Receives City of Chula Vista Approval
11.2021
Columba Apartments is a new affordable housing development in the Millenia Community of the Otay Ranch area. Earlier this month, Columba was given final financial approval by the Chula Vista City Council and the city’s Housing Authority.
This 5-story, 200-unit multi-family development is comprised of two apartment buildings and separate 3-story parking structure. All of the 200 units will be income and rent-restricted for households making between 30% to 60% of the San Diego County Area Median Income (AMI) with a mix comprised of 56 one-bedrooms, 86 two-bedrooms, and 58 three-bedrooms.
The two apartment buildings form the outer perimeter of the full-block site, with the parking structure nestled at the site core. Bounded by the Transit Guideway, Orion St., Optima St. and Solstice Avenue, the north building faces the Transit Guideway, providing tenants with direct and easy access to public transportation. Each apartment has its own internal courtyard, with indoor/outdoor connectivity to ground level amenities including a community room and office space. A commercial storefront is located on the south building along Optima St., which will feature a neighborhood amenity for the Millenia community.
The architecture is modern in design with the main building façade stepping in-and-out along the right-of-way, to create depth and interest within the streetscape. The roof line steps in height to soften the building mass while complementing a human scale design. Prominent building corners are framed with high-end finishes, to enhance the pedestrian character. Exterior materials include fiber cement siding, cement plaster, metal panel and ceramic tile. The palette of materials, finishes and colors were selected to harmonize with the existing buildings located directly north of the Transit Guideway, Volta and Duetta, and to a larger extent, the Millenia community as a whole.
This is one of several affordable housing projects JWDA has worked on with Chelsea Development Corporation, including the neighboring Volta and Duetta Apartments in the Millenia community completed in 2017; and St. Teresa of Calcutta Villa in downtown San Diego, to be completed early 2022.
The JWDA team is led by Joseph O. Wong, FAIA; Tomas Vega; Brian Hansen, RA; Sophia Del Mar English, NOMA; Edward Natanauan; and Eduardo Franco.
Please visit this link for more information.
Owner/Developer: Chelsea Investment Corporation
Contractor: Emmerson Construction
Design Team:
Architect: JWDA
Structural Engineer: DCI
Civil Engineer: Hunsaker
MPE Engineer: Gouvis
Landscape Architect: GMP
