San Diego planners gave unanimous approval recently to Cornerstone Communities for an Otay Mesa project with 450 townhouses, reported the San Diego Union Tribune. The Candlelight project is located in one of the few undeveloped areas of San Diego County, about a mile from the U.S.-Mexico border. Although the plan had previously been approved, changes to the unit types required a new vote. 

Environmental concerns, and plans for mitigation efforts, have kept the project in the planning stages, off and on, for roughly 12 years. After last Thursday’s vote, Cornerstone anticipates starting work on the site in September, with the first homes opening in late 2025. 

Cornerstone CEO Ure Kretowicz told the Union Tribune he envisions the project as workforce housing because early cost estimates put townhouses in the mid-$500,000 to low $600,000 range. Even the highest-priced models would be below the $802,500 median home price in January. 

The Port of San Diego’s planning for the “future of the Port,” formally known as the Port Master Plan Update (PMPU), has reached a major milestone with the Board of Port Commissioners’ unanimous certification of the Final Program Environmental Impact Report and approval of the PMPU. Next, Port staff will process the PMPU document with the California Coastal Commission with the goal of certification late this year.

“We are excited to enter the final phase of this important plan that reflects our collective vision – of our communities, stakeholders, and the Port – for the future of San Diego Bay and the surrounding waterfront,” said chairman Frank Urtasun of the Board of Port Commissioners. “After 11 years of community engagement including numerous public meetings and exchanges with the public, the PMPU will help us continue to deliver on promises made to voters when the Port was established in 1962.”

The Port Master Plan is a water- and land-use plan that designates specific areas of San Diego Bay and the surrounding waterfront for a variety of uses including maritime, fishing, visitor-serving commercial, recreational, environmental conservation and protection and navigation. The plan determines where port activities should take place, where recreational amenities should be located, and where commercial uses including hotels, restaurants and visitor-serving retail may be built.