EL CAJON, Calif. — The construction site on N First Street in Unincorporated San Diego has been untouched for an entire year. Working for You, CBS 8 found out why the work stalled and when it will pick up again.
"We just need to make El Cajon better, and this is why I came to News 8," Stevens said.
Larine Stevens has lived in her home near the abandoned property for nearly 35 years. She reached out to CBS 8 and wants to see progress on the site.
"I just think that this just needs to be finished," Stevens said. "I want it to succeed, I want it to improve the neighborhood."
About two years ago, the property was sold and torn down. Six months later, construction began for apartments.
"You see the structure going up, and then all of a sudden it just stopped," Stevens said.
Stevens said construction continued for about five months, now it's been sitting untouched for an entire year.
"I waited and waited and nothing happened," Stevens said. "And if you look at the complex now, you can see the wood is starting to rot and nothing is being done."
Working for You, CBS 8 reached out to the seller and buyer to find out more.
In February of 2022, real estate company Lee & Associates sold the fully-entitled apartment site to Greenbuild Properties for more than $2.2 million. The roughly 1.84 acres of land was approved for a 38-unit apartment project with two and three-bedroom units. 10-percent, which is three of the units, will be reserved for "very low-income families."
In a statement, Greenbuild Properties told CBS 8:
"The project got hit with unexpected sharp cost increase from general contractor mid-construction, and we were forced to redo construction financing in the middle of the project. Since the whole sector of commercial real estate financing is still in the recovery mode, refinancing this construction loan turned out to be quite challenging, however, it looks like it’ll be completed in the next couple of weeks and the work will resume shortly.”
At CBS 8, we are always Working for You and our community. This is a station promise that we will go the extra mile to solve a problem our audience can’t solve themselves. We want to hear your ideas on how we can cover and help our community. If you have a story idea, please email us at workingforyou@cbs8.com.
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