San Diego officials have approved a plan for up to 5,130 homes near the U.S.-Mexico border, clearing the way for one of the region’s largest residential developments in years. The Southwest Village plan, approved by the City Council in a 6-2 vote on Monday, stretches across a 490-acre plot of land — nearly half the size of Balboa Park — between the Otay Mesa and San Ysidro neighborhoods.
The approval represents a significant milestone in San Diego’s ongoing efforts to address its housing shortage. City officials have been eager to approve new housing on mostly vacant land near the border, including a nearly 1,000-unit housing development approved in mid-April. The Southwest Village plan is substantially larger, encompassing land owned by several developers, the city, and private homeowners.
“San Diego needs more homes in every part of our city,” Mayor Todd Gloria said after the vote. “This is another important step toward building more homes, lowering housing costs and creating neighborhoods where families can live, work and thrive.”
The plan envisions a somewhat walkable area with bike lanes and bus routes, construction of new roads and infrastructure projects, 175,000 square feet of commercial space, a new school, and 200 acres of open space. Irvine-based Tri Pointe Homes led the overall Southwest Village Specific Plan and plans to build approximately 1,500 to 2,100 homes on the site. Initial plans call for 778 multifamily units, such as townhouses and apartments, as well as 142 single-family homes. About 92 apartments would be set aside for low-income renters. Other developers could build homes on the remaining private and public parcels within the plan area.
The approval was not without opposition. Councilmembers Marni von Wilpert and Joe LaCava voted against the plan. LaCava said he wanted more time to review the proposal because, even though it had been in planning for a decade, it was the first time the council had seen it. Von Wilpert expressed concerns that a new fire station would only be built after 700 homes were constructed, rather than at the beginning of the development. She also wanted more guarantees in writing that the developer would build promised amenities like a public park. Councilmember Vivian Moreno recused herself due to a financial interest in a residential property in the area.
Some existing property owners objected to the rezoning. Antonio Blas, whose family has owned land zoned only for single-family homes inside the new village for roughly 40 years, argued that the change to denser development devalues his property. “This sudden rezoning amounts to a regulatory taking that severely diminishes the utility, purpose and financial value of our land,” Blas said in a prepared statement.
Environmental objections also surfaced. Michael King, a conservation organizer with the Sierra Club, argued that the project is in a location largely cut off from public transportation, with no significant plan to fix it. Future transit planning — from trolley extensions to bus lines — would fall to the San Diego Association of Governments, not the city council. The closest trolley stops are in San Ysidro or at Beyer Boulevard, but driving times are difficult to estimate without the new roads being built.
Despite the objections, the project had significant support. The Otay Mesa Planning Group, chaired by Rob Hixson for 16 years, had previously approved the site plan, as did the city’s planning commission. “We’ve asked a lot of Tri Pointe Homes, and they’ve delivered,” Hixson said. “No one has ever been excluded.”
Allen Kashani, director of land entitlements for Tri Pointe, said the company began work on the project in 2016 and has spent years engaging with homeowners, environmental groups, and stakeholders. The long planning process included compromises on open space and infrastructure requirements.
San Diego housing analyst Gary London of London Group Realty Advisors called the development a good step for the region’s housing needs, noting that home prices in the area will likely be lower than the rest of the county. New townhouses in the area typically run $530,000 to $650,000, less expensive than other parts of San Diego. “It’s virtually the only place we can add a large increase of new housing in the city,” London said. “It’s hugely important.”
London did note a potential downside: residents will likely need cars to commute to work, as the area is not near a major job center. He suggested that areas in the eastern and northern parts of the county might be better suited for new housing from a transportation perspective, though the city of San Diego has been more aggressive in approving new homes than neighboring cities.
The Southwest Village approval underscores San Diego’s ongoing struggle to balance housing production with infrastructure, environmental, and transportation concerns. As the city continues to push for more housing in a region where supply has lagged behind demand for decades, projects like Southwest Village will serve as test cases for whether large-scale development on the urban periphery can meaningfully address the affordability crisis.
Sources: San Diego Union-Tribune, San Diego Union-Tribune – April Border Housing Approval, Zillow – Otay Mesa Area Pricing
