Balboa Reservoir Housing Development Project's 'Block A' Plans Revealed

The development and architect team for the Balboa Reservoir housing project met with residents and community members Saturday morning at Unity Plaza to collect feedback on Block A, the first phase of the project, which will have 100% affordable housing units.

David Casey with BAR Architects & Interiors said Block A, located at the corner of Lee Avenue and Wisteria Lane, will have 159 affordable family units with roughly 50% of units with two to three bedrooms. The second level of Block A will have community space and a courtyard for residents living in the building among other amenities as part of the conceptual plan.

The architect firm provided at the community event what they called the schematic design of the floor plans and renderings of the outside of the building. Materials used for the exterior of Building A will include black tiles in a matte and glossy finish that will face Lee Avenue and “help pick up some visual interest, as people are walking up from Unity Plaza,” Casey said.

Josh Carillo, senior project manager with Bridge Housing, said buildings A, B, E and F will be for affordable housing units. Bridge Housing is leading three of the four blocks while Mission Housing is leading another block. A new construction milestone is on the horizon for one of the affordable housing buildings.

“The new milestone is that we're looking to build E first. It’s the most advanced in the project,” Carillo said. Bridge Housing is still waiting to hear back from the state on funding for Block E and could hear back in December. If the funding is approved, construction of Block E could potentially break ground in June of next year, he said.

If Bridge Housing receives the funding from the state, they plan to apply for the same funding for Block E. “If we get the funding for E we feel pretty strong, we'll get the funding for it A,” Carillo said.

The city announced last year that the state awarded $45.7 million for Building A from various state agencies.

Jon Winston, a Sunnyside resident, said he would like to see more plans from developers on how people on foot will move around the new area as he was unable to tell from the renderings.

“I think it's going to be kind of awkward until the rest of the project's built because they're going to build these buildings and there's just going to be grass around them,” Winston said.

Carillo said they could hear back on funding for Building A in July of next year with the potential of a groundbreaking in January 2026.