July 23, 1999
U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo announced $42.2 million in economic development assistance to communities in California, including 3.5 million to assist the development of a Regional Transportation Center on El Cajon Boulevard in San Diego's City Heights community.
The funds are expected to help create and retain nearly 5,500 jobs in the state and stimulate more than $200 million of additional public and private investment.
"We're investing in building a better future for businesses and families in San Diego," Cuomo said. "By helping businesses to start up and grow, we'll create jobs, we'll create new opportunity for families, and we'll help revitalize communities."
San Diego will receive a $1.5 million Economic Development Initiative grant and a $2 million Section 108 loan guarantee to assist in the construction of a Regional Transportation Center at the southeast corner of El Cajon Boulevard and the newly-developed I-15 corridor. The center will include a vehicle fueling station facilities for the sale and repair of alternative and conventionally-fueled vehicles, and an educational center reaching approximately 30,000 junior and senior high school students and providing vocational training in the emerging field of alternative fuels for 1,500 technical school students.
The center will provide increased economic opportunities for the low- and moderate-income residents of City Heights. In addition to the project's creation of 30 new jobs, Pearson Ford —City Heights' largest non-government employer— will retain 185 jobs within San Diego's Enterprise Community and will provide funding for the project. Key partners in the effort include: The Ford Motor Company, Pearson Ford, the City of San Diego Redevelopment Agency, and the U.S. Department of Energy.
The San Diego project will build upon the success of City Height's new Urban Village, which Cuomo toured in February, 1998 during a visit touting the progress of the federally-designated Enterprise Community.
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