Politics & Government

Mixed-Use Development Project Breaks Ground

Housing component will provide living space for youth leaving the foster care system.

It may take a village to raise a child, but in Lemon Grove it may take a Downtown Village.

When Citronica One, the first of two mixed-used redevelopment projects planned adjacent to the new transit plaza, is completed early next year the development will feature 3,650 square feet of retail space and 56 affordable-housing units—15 of which are being set aside as transitional housing for youth who are aging out of the foster care system.

It’s a concept that’s close to the heart of developer Ginger Hitzke, president of Hitzke Development Corp.

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“It’s something new. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time,” Hitzke says. “I would like to have foster kids … that’s something I hope to get a chance to do when I’m older. In the meantime, this is something that I’m able to fulfill with wanting to help foster kids.”

The project officially kicked off Monday with a gala groundbreaking ceremony featuring local leaders, including Mayor Mary Sessom and the entire City Council, dignitaries and a flash mob.

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Hitzke herself took part in the fun, dancing along in the choreographed surprise to the James Brown classic, (I Got You) I Feel Good.

“That is just the song that embodies how I feel about Lemon Grove,” Hitzke says. “I feel so good here.”

The project is at the core of the city’s Downtown Village Specific Plan, the  revitalization effort that includes the Main Street Promenade, a linear park that will feature a modernized transit center and public space at the Lemon Grove Depot, and street realignment.

The project is funded in part with $4.2 million from the Lemon Grove Community Redevelopment Agency. It is the most significant housing project since the 1980s, according to City Manager Graham Mitchell. Congresswoman Susan Davis says the project is key to community building.

“Housing is critical to all communities, but particularly to special needs populations and seniors,” Congresswoman Susan Davis says. “And you have the opportunity here to bring the housing to exactly where the transportation is, and where the center of the city exists. It provides the connection that some projects don’t provide.

“The contribution kids can make as part of this transition housing someday, I suspect, will be far greater than if it hadn’t been here for them. They’re going to have a very important role.”

Construction on Citrionica One is set to being Jan. 23, and scheduled to be complete in early 2013.


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