The 1.2-acre site in the center of La Mesa will be the site of new housing that is expected to open the ground by 2022.

The city Council last week approved an exclusive negotiating agreement with the Roseville-based U.S. Properties Foundation to build on the former La Mesa police station site at 8181 Ellison Ave.

Next at the corner of Ellison and date avenues will be a four-story, 115-unit multi-family residential project. The project, across the street from La Mesa Civic Center / City Hall and La Mesa Spring valley school district center, will include one-and two-bedroom apartments built on a single-level Parking lot with 127 seats.

The city-owned plot of land near the San Diego trolley station has been fenced off for several years. The police station was abandoned in 2010, and demolished two years later.

Calling it a ” transit development, “the city Manager’s office report said it would be designed”to take advantage of the close proximity to public transportation resources of buses and trolleybuses.”

The city said that the developers plan to provide residents with free trolleybus passes and offer special Parking spaces for residents who either do not own vehicles or rely solely on public transport. A total of 69 units are expected to be offered at the market rental rate and the remaining 46 units will be “limited income” which is built for different levels of affordability as prescribed by the state.

In business for nearly 40 years, the U.S. Properties Foundation has owned at least four properties in San Diego County, including the Campina court apartments on Campina Drive in La Mesa. Mike Terzich, the group’s Vice President of development, says it also owns and operates successful communities at Rancho Carrillo Apartments in Karlovy vary and Vintage Pointe I and Vintage Pointe II senior apartments in Oceanside.

Terzic said the plan is to “begin construction in the third quarter of 2021 and welcome residents about two years later.”

Some residents say they felt the highest and best use for the site would be the library. Others said they were hoping for a mixed-use element that could include something like a cafe included in development plans.

“My big thing was it had to be part of the vision for the entire Civic Center area,” Aaron Amerling said. “This lot is part of the great vision of the city, a cohesive vision of the public use of the area with some housing component. Nothing says 100 percent housing. A giant vision four stories above the Parking structure? There’s no vision, no thought of what it brings to the community. So much for the emphasis on best use .”

Resident Jerry Jones, the son of lemon grove councillor Jerry Jones, told the city Council that “the clock was ticking,” referring to the city’s legal timeline to have something built on the site in a promised 10-year period starting in 2012. He said the city’s inaction and lack of vision led the city Council to approve a soft project that meets the city’s standards but will not add to the character of the community.

“There’s nothing for us residents in it,” Jones said. “Now the community’s best opportunity to speak out on this issue is to petition the us Properties developer. The city still has the ability to provide incentives for the developer to achieve an outcome that would be more beneficial to everyone. Let’s hope they do.”

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