Every rehab project has its own distinct personality, but this one - the rehab of 60 apartments spread over eleven buildings and five scattered sites in the City Heights neighborhood of San Diego - had almost as many personalities as there were apartment units.
Of the hundreds of apartment units rehabilitated over the past two years by Sun Country’s rehab division, this project offered the greatest strategic, scheduling, and administrative challenges. The five properties were all drastically different, and there was a distinct scope of work for each complex. In a number of cases, there was a distinct scope of work for each apartment.
To add another layer of complexity, different properties had different sources of funding, which triggered different prevailing wage reporting and administrative requirements.
City Heights Community Development Corporation, the owner of the five apartment sites, working with the San Diego Housing Commission, brought together a team of experts and consultants to develop individual scopes of work for each unit and building, to plan for tenant relocations, and to navigate the complexities of the different funding sources.
Sun Country Builders offered a construction schedule which ensured that the typical tenant relocation period was less than seven days, including abatement and fumigation of the buildings. Two of the complexes had been built in the 30’s and 40’s, and in those properties it was necessary to abate both lead and asbestos.
One of the older projects was completely re-wired and re-plumbed, and the apartments were completely refinished, including kitchens, baths, paint, flooring, and plumbing and electrical fixtures. At the same time as the interior work was proceeding, exterior renovations were underway, including re-plastering and re-siding, replacement of windows and roofing, and new water-wise landscaping, hardscape, and play equipment.
The rewards stemming from these efforts were two-fold: increased quality of life for the tenants, and the preservation of valuable affordable housing. The work at one of the sites was particularly satisfying, as the architecture and ambience of a charming, classic, 1930’s California court was retained, while the units were modernized and improved.
Sun Country is grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the quality of housing in San Diego, and thanks City Heights CDC, its consulting team, and the San Diego Housing Commission for their tireless efforts to keep the project moving forward on a fast-track schedule. And, for the extraordinary efforts of its on-site team Sun Country thanks project manager Jim Schroeder and superintendent John Ferrell.
