22-05-2025
Father Joe's repurposing old skydiving center for 164 units of affordable housing
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Father Joe's Villages is set to transform the old skydiving center in San Diego's East Village neighborhood into 164 affordable housing units, marking a significant development in addressing homelessness in the area.
The beleaguered building at 1401 Imperial Ave. — once a failed business venture — was purchased by the city for $7 million following the Hepatitis A outbreak in 2017 that claimed the lives of 20 unhoused San Diegans.
Since then, Father Joe's has used the building as a resource center for those experiencing homelessness under an agreement with the San Diego Housing Commission.
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After seven years, the nonprofit is pressing forward with a plan to transform it into affordable housing, after the San Diego City Council unanimously greenlit the project earlier this week.
'This project, and the many other affordable housing units Father Joe's Villages has built, is critical to helping people exit homelessness,' said Deacon Jim Vargas, CEO of Father Joe's. 'We must deploy creative solutions to meet the ever growing need, and this site is just one such example.'
When the building was acquired under Mayor Kevin Faulconer, the city planned to transform it into housing — a vision that went unrealized until now.
As opposed to demolishing the existing structure, Vargas says Father Joe's plans to adaptively reuse it, building it up from three stories to 15. All 164 units added with the extra floors will be deed-restricted for low-income households.
The space will also continue to house services aimed to help residents achieve and maintain self-sufficiency, such as physical and behavioral health care, social supports and employment services.
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According to Vargas, Father Joe's Villages hopes to break ground on the housing project in mid-2026 with the goal of welcoming its first residents by 2028.
This is not the first time Father Joe's Villages has ventured into the administration of long-term affordable housing. It also operates the 14-story Saint Teresa of Calcutta complex, located right across the street.
'We've had many people, not only locally but from the state and federal government who have come and visited. It's a great model that we look to replicate in our other buildings,' Vargas said. 'It's building a sense of community.'
Outside the downtown complex, Father Joe's has two other affordable housing developments in the works, aiming to expand the number of units it operates to 2,000 in the next decade.
KUSI's Dan Plante contributed to this report.
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