Hillcrest Apartment Building Renovated – San Diego Business Journal

SAN DIEGO – A Hillcrest apartment building is being renovated by F&F Properties in a $14.1 million project that will expand the number of apartments from 12 to 29.

“We look for older buildings that need to be rehabilitated and add value to them by adding density to the site and adding more units when there’s capacity and upgrading the overall quality,” said Maggie Sleeper, director of community engagement and strategic initiatives for F&F Properties.

“The product that we like to put out there has high quality finishes and is stylish and attractive to that type of renter that wants to live in Hillcrest,” Sleeper said.

Renamed Duplet, the two-building project at 1239 Robinson Ave. has eight three-bedroom apartments ranging from 1,070 square feet, 12 one-bedroom apartments ranging from 390 square feet to 610 square feet, and nine studio apartments ranging from 250 square feet to 590 square feet.

“They were originally built in the ‘60s. I don’t think they had been upgraded at all,” Sleeper said, adding that with the renovation finished, Duplet “feels a little bit more like a condo home as opposed to a generic apartment complex.”

“There’s an interior design quality to it,” Sleeper said.

The work included adding new flooring, light fixtures, and custom cabinetry.

“It’s not your generic, Home Depot cabinets or generic light fixtures,” Sleeper said.
F&F Properties also installed washers and dryers in each apartment.

Because it is considered a transit-oriented development, no on-site parking was required, but F&F Properties kept 16 of the original spaces.

Duplet is designed to attract “people who appreciate the neighborhood and the boutique environment that we offer as opposed to large institutional properties,” Sleeper said, “probably more on the young and mid-career side.”

GTC Design, based in East Village, and PALO Architects, based in Golden Hill, were the architects.

Monthly rents for the market rate apartments range from $1,895 for studio apartments to $4,245 for the three-bedroom apartments, Sleeper said.

Three of the studio apartments and one of the two-bedroom apartments are earmarked for tenants with annual incomes of 110% or less of the Area Median Income.

Growing Company

To liven up the project, San Diego artist Sarah Stiebar, with studios in Little Italy, has created abstract murals on each of the buildings facing the street.

The murals are “about creating a sense of place and adding to the vibrancy of the neighborhood,” Sleeper said.

Built in 1964 on a 14,038-square-foot lot, F&F properties bought the wood-frame buildings from David Alfery Investments in 2021 for $4.6 million and spent about $9.5 million renovating them, according to Sleeper.

After renovations, Sleeper estimated that Duplet is valued at about $15.1 million.
Founded in 2012, F&F Properties specializes in infill projects such as Duplet, Sleeper said.
The company’s first project had 15 apartments.

“Now, we have projects that range from five units up to 120,” Sleeper said. “We hope to continue to grow and expand. We’re solely in San Diego County and plan to stay in San Diego County.”

About half of the company’s projects are within San Diego proper, “with a heavy focus around North Park, Golden Hill, and now, Hillcrest,” Sleeper said.

Ideally F&F Properties will more than double in size over the next 10 years,” Sleeper said.

“We would love to continue investing hundreds of millions of dollars into improving the quality and quantity of San Diego’s rental housing supply as long as the regulatory environment allows us to do so, both as a developer and as a long-term owner and operator of our properties,” Sleeper said.

F&F Properties
opened: 2012
HEADQUARTERS: University City
PRESIDENT & CEO: Dan Feder
EMPLOYEES: 40+
BUSINESS: multifamily housing developer
WEBSITE: www.fandfinc.com
CONTACT: 619-501-3222
NOTABLE: F&F Properties owns and operates more than 1,400 units in San Diego County