A proposed apartment complex for homeless people is causing an uproar in Clairemont.

Residents want to know who would live there, how security would be handled and other details.

The nonprofit developer says opposition is based on misperceptions about the homeless.

Some Clairemont residents are in an uproar over plans to build 50 apartments for previously homeless people in the mostly residential community.

A vocal group of residents is criticizing San Diego officials and the nonprofit developer of the proposed housing complex for lack of transparency about who would live there, possible drug use at the site and how security would be handled.

The developer, Wakeland Housing, says it can’t answer some of those questions yet, blaming the outcry on bias against homeless people. City officials say they can’t do anything until Wakeland submits official plans, which hasn’t happened.

This is likely to be the first of many similar controversies, as city officials strive to solve the local homelessness crisis by subsidizing housing projects all over San Diego that aim to help homeless people get back on their feet.


In addition to including modest apartments for the formerly homeless, such housing complexes will typically feature on-site supportive services such as mental health counseling, drug treatment and job placement help.

The city’s plan, based on a relatively new national model called “housing first,” likely faces turbulence and opposition in every community where such housing complexes would be built.

Plans to convert a motel near Imperial Beach into housing for chronically homeless low-level criminals prompted similar public outcry last fall before eventually getting City Council approval.

A leader of the angry Clairemont residents says her community is willing to do its part to solve the region’s homelessness problem, they just want details on exactly what they would be welcoming into their community and why.


“Clairemont has a huge heart and they want to be part of the solution,” Eden Yaege, president of the Clairemont Town Council, said by phone. “But we need those answers first.”

A Wakeland official said by phone this week that the company isn’t being secretive or uncooperative, but that some of the answers community members want aren’t yet available.

The uproar began earlier this month when Wakeland hosted an informational forum about the proposed complex, which would replace an aging office building on Mt. Alifan Drive near the intersection of Balboa and Genesee avenues.


“We realized people want a lot more detail than we have. We’re very early in the process with this,” said Rebecca Louie, Wakeland’s chief operating officer. “We’re going to come back when we have it a little more fleshed out.”

Louie said company officials have decided on the general concept and wanted to share that with community leaders and nearby residents as soon as possible.

“We know big picture that our goal is to build a 52-ish unit apartment complex to provide homes with supportive services for people who have been homeless or at risk,” she said.

Councilman Chris Cate, whose district includes Clairemont, said in an interview this week that he appreciates Wakeland seeking community input early, but not when there are so many unanswered questions.


“There’s a lot of misperceptions out there about this project, and I definitely share the frustration of a lot of community members and the concerns they have,” said Cate, who lives in nearby Mira Mesa. “It was definitely not thought all the way through -- the rollout of this.”

In addition to lack of detail, Cate said Wakeland seems to have presented construction of the proposed housing complex as inevitable to the residents.

“No one likes to be told what it’s going to be,” Cate said. “They shouldn’t be left with the impression this is a done deal, and for what it’s worth, a lot of folks felt that way.”

Louie said backlash against such projects is based on misperceptions.


“There’s a stigma associated with homelessness, so everyone sort of pictures that person who is severely mentally ill on the street and they think ‘I don’t want that to be my neighbor — I don’t want my kids going by a place where that person lives,’” she said. “You can’t judge how someone is going to behave once they’re housed, based on how they were living on the streets.”

Louie said these would essentially be traditional apartments where tenants have to obey the rules and be good neighbors or face eviction and other potential consequences.

She said the location is ideal because it’s near hundreds of entry-level retail jobs in large shopping plazas at Balboa and Genesee.

Wakeland operates two similar complexes that have opened in recent months in City Heights and downtown San Diego, and Louie said they have blended well into those neighborhoods.


Clairemont residents, however, aren’t just questioning the specifics of the proposal, but whether the city’s entire “housing first” model makes sense.

To build the complex, Wakeland would need to secure financing from the city’s Housing Commission and federal tax credits. Louie estimated the earliest Wakeland could break ground would be 2020, with construction potentially complete in 2022.

Residents in opposition have created the website clairemontcares.com


david.garrick@sduniontribune.com (619) 269-8906 Twitter:@UTDavidGarrick