San Diego Foundation Case Study
Beyond Traditional Giving: How Place-Based Philanthropy Catalyzes Housing Solutions
Like many cities, San Diego continues to face significant challenges from the ongoing housing crisis. Nearly 40% of households in the region are cost burdened, and the income needed to afford a down payment on a median-priced home in the city is approaching $200,000. Recognizing that housing affordability represents the greatest threat to San Diego’s economic
growth, the San Diego Foundation (SDF) launched the San Diego Housing Fund (SDHF) in 2024. DHF partners with investors, developers, and property owners to adopt a new approach to provide faster, more efficient housing production across the spectrum of affordability for all San Diegans. By providing low-cost philanthropic capital to increase low-and middle-income housing, SDHF aims to support the creation of 1,000 new units annually through 2034, totaling 10,000 units. San Diego permitted 9,693 new homes in 2023, therefore, if SDHF successfully meets its goals, it could increase the city’s housing production by more than 10% annually.
SDHF uses an innovative four-pronged affordable housing strategy. First, it builds cross-sector coalitions, including philanthropists, architects, planners, community advocates, to address housing affordability. The second prong activates vacant and underutilized land to build housing units on land at low or no cost, with ground leases or fee simple ownership, alongside improvements to adjacent infrastructure. SDHF also has trusted partners in major institutional landowners that consists of government, quasi-government, education, and religious partners with a strong alignment to improve housing accessibility whether they are cash poor or resource rich. Third, the strategy uses philanthropic capital, building affordable housing by underwriting financial returns at philanthropic, community-centered rates. This capital helps catalyze new construction and enables deeper affordability in mixed-income projects. Finally, SDHF builds community resilience by offering wraparound services for healthcare, life skills, tutoring, childcare, and even book and gardening clubs. SDHF is also utilizing proactive management with technology, text messaging, door knocks, and tenant feedback to build community resilience along with long-term ownership and stable communities by de-risking assets and improving lives.
SDHF established a number of partnerships related to affordable housing, like its Joint Venture with Naturally Affordable Housing, which builds workforce housing in San Diego for individuals working in the Arts, Education, and Healthcare. This collaboration identifies parcels for systematic development, employs pre-approved site plans to reduce time and costs, and focuses on restricted units for residents with incomes between 60-120% AMI, independent of publicly provided bond financing or tax credits. Construction is set to start this year on roughly 500 units in San Diego County. SDHF also has a strategic partnership with Catholic Charities Diocese of San Diego (CCSD) to explore opportunities to redevelop real estate properties owned by CCDSD to address the housing crisis. This is an illustrative example of a nationwide trend of faith-based organizations taking a more active role in supporting housing production that some have called “Yes in God’s Back Yard.”
The SDF also administers the Access Granted Homebuyers Program, which works to close the racial wealth gap by creating opportunities for qualifying Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) households to purchase a home in one of the highest-cost housing markets in the country. Operated in partnership with LISC San Diego and the Urban League of San Diego County, the program serves households with incomes at or below 120% AMI ($119,000) who are first-time homebuyers. Participants receive a $40,000 grant from the San Diego Foundation (applied during closing) and an additional $10,000 grant for closing costs. Since its launch in August 2021, 84 buyers have purchased homes in San Diego County through the program at an average price of $455,899.