Perhaps one of the best things about San Diego, other than its incredible warm weather and beautiful beaches, is the fact that it’s a multi-faceted city, whose neighborhoods have many different characteristics. Bouncing back from the Great Recession, San Diego has seen a flurry of construction and the transformation of neighborhoods recently, which has helped create the new hottest rental neighborhoods. In part two of our series “The Hottest Neighborhoods in San Diego,” we’ll discuss two areas near downtown that make great rental investments. Here’s where we’re feeling the heat right now:
East Village
Downtown San Diego has seen a huge rebirth in the last 15 years with the building of Petco Park, the growth of the Gaslamp District and Little Italy, and the expansion of local events like Comic Con.
Developers are now active again in Downtown, with the East Village as one of the hottest new neighborhoods.
Several large apartment buildings have recently opened, and trendy bars, restaurants, and 20-somethings are flocking to the neighborhood. The creation of Quartyard (http://www.quartyardsd.com/), an outdoor beer and event space made largely from recycled shipping containers, has helped shine the spotlight on this neighborhood.
The 10 square blocks where the Charger’s stadium was slated to be developed will instead redevelop in an entirely different manner, with office, residential, and retail uses, along with small parks and urban open spaces. An entire urban neighborhood fits in the same footprint as the stadium, so this will be a fascinating development story to watch over the coming years. Even without the stadium, the East Village is hot today.
Golden Hill
Golden Hill’s for-sale housing market is the hottest in San Diego right now, with the largest year-over-year gains in price appreciation. And the rental market is seeing similar growth.
New apartment projects include Foundation For Form’s “You Are Here,” a 23- unit apartment building that also has an eclectic mix of ground-floor retail tenants. http://www.foundationforform.com/you-are-here/
Jonathan Segal, an acclaimed local architect/developer, has developed several rental properties in Golden Hill, which are always in high demand and command top-of-the-market rents.
Soheil Nakhshab and his family’s design/development company, NDD, built Sofia Lofts, a for-rent community that has been featured in Dwell Magazine, profiled by the Urban Land Institute as a case-study in renewable urban infill, and has won several design awards. http://www.sofialofts.com/
SL20 is another brand new rental community that has set the local market for rents. The 20 townhomes were originally built to be sold as individual homes, and converted to rentals after completion. The three-story, 2-bedroom homes have rented for over $3,000/month.
All of these new developments, plus Golden Hill’s great location close to downtown and Balboa Park, have helped spike demand in the neighborhood. Many older buildings are now being refurbished, and new developments are on the way. We predict Golden Hill will continue to see increases in home prices and rents for many years to come.
Keeping Up with the Trends
Is one of your rental properties in these hot areas? As a property owner, it’s always important to understand changes and fluctuations in the rental market and how that can affect your bottom line. The bad news is that it’s a lot of work to keep up with all the happenings in San Diego County. But, the good news is that there is someone who can do it for you. The professionals at MV Properties are experts in all of San Diego’s rental neighborhoods and can help you manage your property today.
About Keegan
Keegan McNamara is the founder of MV Properties, a leading San Diego property management company. The company’s goal is to cultivate long-lasting relationships with property owners and tenants, and to provide best-in-class service. Keegan holds a Masters in Business Administration from the Rady School of Management at UC San Diego and is a Principal at McNamara Ventures, a real estate development and investment company focused on residential and mixed-use properties.