Sixty-three affordable apartments have opened at Villa Serena II in San Marcos, extending a housing community where the size of a household can change the kind of home available. The new three-story building at 339 Marcos Street includes one-, two- and three-bedroom units plus an apartment for an on-site manager.
Eligibility reaches households earning no more than 60% of the area's median income. Five apartments are reserved through California's No Place Like Home program for people who need behavioral-health support and are experiencing homelessness or at risk of losing housing. With the addition, the two Villa Serena phases now contain 148 affordable homes.
Those numbers describe the supply but not the daily fit. Larger apartments can keep children and caregivers under one roof; an on-site manager can shorten the path from a maintenance problem to a response. The mix also places formerly homeless residents within a broader family community rather than separating supportive housing into a stand-alone site.
San Diego County contributed more than $6.6 million and 15 project-based housing vouchers, according to the county's opening announcement. Project-based vouchers attach rental assistance to specified apartments, so the benefit remains with the unit when one resident leaves. That structure can preserve affordability at the property, though individual households still must meet program rules.
National CORE developed the project. Resident services will come through its Hope through Housing Foundation, with programs focused on youth success, financial stability, health and wellness. County Behavioral Health Services is working with property management to provide support using Housing First, harm-reduction and trauma-informed approaches for residents in the reserved homes.
The address also reduces some of the distance between housing and routine errands. The county lists public transit, grocery stores, parks, a medical clinic and the San Marcos Civic Center Station nearby. Proximity does not guarantee that every trip is simple, especially for households balancing work shifts, school schedules or mobility needs, but it gives residents more options than a site isolated from services.
Villa Serena II received LEED Gold certification. Its design includes drought-tolerant landscaping and solar panels expected to offset most of the community's energy use. For tenants, the meaningful test will be whether those systems translate into stable utility costs and comfortable homes over time, not only the certification recorded at opening.
People searching for an apartment will still need information beyond the opening announcement. The county maintains an affordable-housing map and publishes income-limit guidance, while National CORE's property page is the direct source for community details. Availability, wait-list status and household eligibility can change. A completed building adds capacity, but it does not mean all 63 homes remain open for immediate application.
The county says it has invested more than $330 million in affordable housing since 2017, helping create more than 3,900 homes with nearly 2,200 additional units in development. Villa Serena II is one completed piece of that pipeline. Its longer record will be kept at household scale: whether rents remain within reach, supportive services stay available and families can remain in San Marcos without trading housing stability for distance from work, school and care.