SAN DIEGO, (Nov 20, 2025) — The Urban Land Institute (ULI) today announced that Community Solutions’ Market Street Village Apartments project in San Diego has been awarded the 2025 Jack Kemp Award for Excellence in Affordable and Workforce Housing.
Market Street Village represents a breakthrough in how affordable housing is financed and delivered, offering a privately funded model that connects high-quality housing directly to individuals experiencing homelessness and middle-income individuals without the use of complex and costly tax credit financing structures.
The 229-unit, Class A property in the heart of downtown San Diego dedicates half of its units to veterans exiting homelessness and the other half to workforce housing for individuals earning up to 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI).
The project was acquired and financed through the Community Solutions Large Cities Housing Fund, a $150M social impact housing fund. Thanks to The Fund’s innovative financing model, the acquisition required no public subsidy other than a standard state tax exemption. Instead, leading impact-oriented investors from health systems to banks and private foundations contributed capital. Investors include Kaiser Permanente, UnitedHealth Group, and local San Diego institutions, including the Prebys Foundation, The Alliance Healthcare Foundation, and The BQuest Foundation. The senior debt on the project was provided by a unique partnership of Morgan Stanley and the National Equity Fund, which also provided a grant to the project to support onsite services for tenants.
“This wonderful recognition by ULI affirms that communities can reduce homelessness through rigorous collaboration and the creative use of existing housing assets,” said Rosanne Haggerty, President of Community Solutions. “Market Street Village demonstrates that high-quality housing can be made available at affordable rents faster, at lower cost, and directly contribute to reducing homelessness when we unlock private capital for public good.”
“Raising social impact capital rather than relying on complicated tax credit structures allows us to compete with the largest private equity buyers to acquire high-quality assets that are quickly becoming unaffordable for the average person,” says Fund Manager Dave Foster. “We need solutions that can move quickly if we want to make a meaningful difference in this space.”
A hallmark of the model is the project’s full integration with the City’s existing homelessness response system, which enables the local team to match a veteran experiencing homelessness to a home as soon as a unit becomes available.
Since the property was acquired, 37 veterans have moved in, with more moving in at a steady pace as vacancies occur. The property has partnered with local developer Wakeland Housing Development Corporation to support positive outcomes for the individuals housed, with additional services provided by case workers from the regional Veterans Medical Center are designed to promote long-term housing stability for all residents by connecting them with the resources they need to thrive. The property is managed by CONAM, who blends market-rate and affordable housing approaches to effectively manage this unique model of housing.
“Providing an individual with rental assistance is just the first step in getting them housed. Too often, the hardest part is finding them a unit.” Says Tamera Kohler, CEO of San Diego’s Regional Task Force on Homelessness, the lead organization in the City’s efforts to reduce homelessness. “Making units specifically available to these individuals fills a huge gap in our community and makes an immediate impact on our efforts to reduce homelessness”.
The Fund is a project of the national nonprofit Community Solutions that supports a network of more than 160 communities using a coordinated, data oriented, coordinated approach to reduce overall homelessness.
Since launching in 2022, The CS Large Cities Housing Fund has acquired more than 1300 units in six cities, including Baltimore, MD; Charlotte, NC; Denver, CO; Jacksonville, FL; Nashville, TN; and Phoenix, AZ. To date, the Fund has housed over 600 individuals exiting homelessness while preserving affordable workforce housing for more than 700 additional households.
ULI’s recognition of Market Street Village highlights a powerful, scalable and fast approach to preserving workforce housing, driving reductions in homelessness and leveraging new sources of capital nationwide.
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QUOTES:
“Market Street Village is a powerful example of how collaboration can both preserve and expand affordable housing. This project prevented the displacement of more than 200 households and will add up to 100 units prioritized for people exiting homelessness. We are proud to have played a part in this innovative, award-winning project. It is a true bright spot in our collective efforts to address the housing crisis.” – Sarah Lyman, Executive Director of Alliance Healthcare Foundation
“Wakeland is proud to be a partner on this groundbreaking initiative,” said Rebecca Louie, CEO of Wakeland Housing and Development Corporation. “We’re excited to collaborate on innovative models that expand affordable housing opportunities and help communities move faster to meet the urgent need for safe, high-quality homes. Market Street Village shows what’s possible when mission-driven partners come together.”
“As the affordable housing crisis evolves and disproportionally impacts vulnerable populations, it’s critical that we continue developing strong, dynamic partnerships and creative capital financing structures,” said Mark Migliacci, vice president, structured finance at National Equity Fund. “This unique deal directly aligns with NEF’s mission to deliver innovative, collaborative financial solutions to expand the creation and preservation of affordable housing. Market Street Village is an example of what happens when mission-driven organizations come together to address challenges, push boundaries and invest in brighter futures.”
“With the grounding that good health is unattainable without stable housing, we are happy to see Market Street Village recognized for its positive impact on the lives of hundreds of San Diegans,” said John Vu, vice president for community health strategy at Kaiser Permanente. “We look forward to continuing to support Community Solutions’ innovative approaches to addressing the country’s homelessness and housing crises, as we strive to improve the conditions for health across the communities we serve.”
“Stable housing is more than a roof, it’s a foundation for better health. UnitedHealth Group’s investments in housing, health and social services with Community Solutions demonstrates our deep commitment to reducing health disparities and how public and private partners can come together to drive measurable progress toward ending homelessness. Congratulations to Community Solutions for recognition of your efforts to make affordable housing financing less complicated and helping people get housed more quickly,” said Catherine Anderson, Senior Vice President of Health Optimization Strategy, UnitedHealth Group.
CONAM Management Corporation is honored to serve as the property management partner for Market Street Village in San Diego, California, collaborating with BDP Impact Real Estate. This partnership is crucial for providing much-needed workforce housing and housing dedicated to our local veteran population. BDP Impact demonstrates an exceptional commitment to its mission across all its communities, and Market Street Village is a prime example of their dedication. We extend our sincerest congratulations on this well-deserved award and thank BDP Impact for placing their trust in CONAM Management to deliver professional property management services at Market Street Village. We are profoundly committed to partnerships that not only manage properties but also meaningfully impact the lives of residents and strengthen communities. Our work with BDP Impact at Market Street Village is a testament to the power of shared values in addressing the critical need for affordable and veteran housing.” — Rob Singh, President & Chief Executive Officer, CONAM Management Corporation
About Community Solutions
Community Solutions is a nonprofit committed to making homelessness rare and brief. It leads Built for Zero, a network of more than 100 US communities using a data-driven methodology to improve local housing and homelessness response systems and the impact they can achieve. To date, 14 communities have reached functional zero veteran and or chronic homelessness, a milestone for homelessness being rare and brief for a population. Learn more at www.community.solutions or follow us at @CmtySolutions.
About BDP Impact Real Estate
BDP is a national leader in the development and financing of affordable/workforce housing and innovative development projects that deliver long-term impacts for communities, project sponsors and investors. Learn more at www.bdpimpact.com or follow us on LinkedIn.
MEDIA CONTACT:
ekendall@bdpimpact.com
