In 2025, The City Council of San Diego finally decided to revamp the old Serra Mesa library and develop Serra Mesa Apartments. This 42.4 million dollar project will offer affordable houses to those who are most at risk of experiencing homelessness. This is a true execution of the Mayor’s ‘For All of Us’ initiative.
In 2020, the City proposed to transform the Serra Mesa Library, located at 3440 Sandrock Road, San Diego. Earlier, the discussion was to convert it into a shelter for chronically homeless people.
Highlights
- Revamp of the old Serra Mesa library into affordable housing is aimed at providing homes to low and middle-income families.
- The work is expected to begin next year, and a 26-month completion time has been estimated.
- City officials and community members support the initiative as sustainable and community-oriented elements will be integrated into the project.
Affordable Housing in Serra Mesa
Reading area in Serra Mesa library (Source – sandiego.gov)
On March 10, 2025, Mayor Todd Gloria took to his Facebook and announced that the City Council had approved Community Houseworks, a nonprofit, to transform the old Serra Mesa library and build Serra Mesa Apartments with supportive services.
In her post, the Mayor mentioned that “this project is to support veterans and rest of the families at risk of homelessness. The project uses underused public land to provide homes in high-resource neighborhoods with access to quality jobs, schools, and transit.”
The 0.34-acre area will be on a 65-year ground lease. This means that the city will retain ownership, the builder will construct the apartment, and revenue will be shared with the City. The City Council has also approved a loan of $4 million under the Bridge to Home scheme. The project’s total cost is estimated at $42.4 million.
Vision for the Project
The project is aimed at developing affordable houses for residents earning between 30% – 60% of the area median income (AMI). These household and military veterans are at risk of homelessness. Therefore, the apartment will be reserved to prioritize them.
Out of the 59 planned affordable housing units, 56 will be one-bedroom apartments with support services. There will be three two-bedroom apartments and 1 unrestricted two-bedroom unit for the manager.
The Serra Mesa apartment will have facilities such as community room spaces, a computer lab, on-site laundry facilities, 22 parking spaces, a resident services area, and many more. Tree plantation and green areas will also be given importance to promote sustainability.
It is anticipated that the project will take 26 months to complete once the development starts. Once the finances of the Community Houseworks are sorted, they will approximately begin the work in the next year and a half.
What Happened to the Library?
A view from the old functional library (Source – Google Reviews)
Serra Mesa Library was once a useful city resource. The library closed in 2006 when the new Serra Mesa-Kearny Mesa library opened on 9005 Aero Dr, San Diego. Until 2019, the old library building was used for storage purposes. From 2020 onwards, proposals were put forward for converting the building into a useful unit.
In 2021, Mayor Todd Gloria launched the Bridge to Home program to aid development and reduce homelessness. The decision to revamp the old library in view of the needs of the San Diego people is a testament to the commitment to better urban planning. Including this project, a total of 17 projects have received funding under the program.
