A complaint submitted to the city of San Diego’s Code Enforcement last December alleges one of the region’s largest developers was renting out several units of an apartment complex exclusively on Air BnB.
The complaint alleges H.G. Fenton rented out several units at the complex at 438 West Date Street in the Little Itay community.
H.G. Fenton is currently building two towers comprising of 125 apartment homes that are adjacent to the property they are allegedly renting out.
This allegation comes at a time when San Diego’s housing shortage is reaching "crisis" levels, according to Zillow.
Some argue creating "mini-hotels" in residential neighborhoods drives up rental prices and reduces availability in an already tight housing market.
Christy Everett is a recent transplant from New York City who said she was surprised by how expensive rent is in San Diego.
“I definitely thought I’d pay less than we paid in New York,” she said. "We now have an apartment that is more expensive than our New York City flat.”
Local
Short term rentals have become a hot-button issue not only at City Hall but in neighborhoods around San Diego.
Last December, the San Diego City Council failed to vote on changes for short-term rental policies after a marathon meeting in which more than 100 members of the public spoke.
NBC 7 broke down the number of short-term rentals by zip code.
Pacific Beach and Mission Bay have the highest concentration of short-term rentals at over 3,100 properties. Ocean Beach is second at 580 and Downtown is third with just over 500 rentals.
