On October 15, the San Diego Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend that the City Council approve City View. City View is KB Home's plan for 122 for-sale townhomes on a 5.5-acre office site at 11818 to 11858 Bernardo Plaza Court. Much of the hearing was about parking, traffic and whether housing belongs in a business district. For anyone comparing condos and townhomes in Rancho Bernardo, the key figure was a dues estimate. KB Home said City View's HOA dues should come in below $450 a month. It said dues at three existing Rancho Bernardo communities are above $650.
That gap affects how much home a monthly budget can carry, and it does so long before City View has a price sheet. The project is still a proposal, but the math applies to every attached listing in Rancho Bernardo today.
Where City View stands after October 15
The Planning Commission's vote is a recommendation. It is not an approval. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the project now goes to the City Council. A city project development manager said the Council will not take it up before December.
The Council vote covers more than a building permit. The city's staff report asks for several approvals:
- A General Plan amendment
- A Rancho Bernardo Community Plan amendment that would change the site from Specialized Commercial to Residential Medium Density, which allows 14 to 29 homes per acre
- A rezone from Commercial Community to Residential Multiple Unit
- A vesting tentative map for the 122 homes
At that density, the site could hold between 77 and 160 homes. The local review went the other way. On September 17, the Rancho Bernardo Planning Group voted 8–0 to recommend denial.
The timeline has also moved. When the Union-Tribune first covered the community discussion in July 2024, KB Home expected the homes to reach the market in 2026 or later. With the Council vote still pending in late October 2026, none of these townhomes are inventory yet.
The argument was really about what dues pay for
Read through the planning debate and much of it comes down to what an HOA provides. Speaking for the Rancho Bernardo Planning Board, a member told commissioners that Rancho Bernardo has "a good sense of autonomy with the HOAs providing services based on what the individual communities need." She said residents of the new development would not have access to those services. The board also questioned whether the play area would be large enough.
KB Home's John Abboud answered in budget terms, the Union-Tribune reported. He said the company would "strive to provide the homeowners with areas within the community to connect with neighbors" while "controlling the HOA costs." He named Waterbridge, Villa Taviana and Bernardo Greens as Rancho Bernardo communities where monthly dues are above $650, and he attributed those costs to amenities.
City View's planned shared spaces are modest by comparison: a community barbecue and seating area, a play structure, a dog run and an outdoor fitness loop. Both sides were describing the same tradeoff. More shared amenities mean higher monthly dues, and fewer amenities mean lower dues. Abboud described the project as one "where young singles and couples can set roots and can own a home." Both the dues figures and that framing come from the developer. Actual dues are set by a homeowners association's budget once the community exists.
Turning a dues gap into purchase power
Lenders count HOA dues in a buyer's monthly housing cost. So dues that are $200 a month higher take $200 away from the mortgage payment a buyer can carry. A rough calculation shows what that is worth:
- Freddie Mac's weekly survey put the national average 30-year fixed rate at 7.32% for the week of October 22, 2026.
- At that rate, principal and interest come to about $6.87 a month for every $1,000 borrowed.
- $200 divided by $6.87 is about $29,000 of loan principal.
- If the gap between "above $650" and "below $450" is larger than $200, the borrowing difference grows with it.
So for a buyer working to a fixed monthly payment, one home with $650 dues and another with $450 dues can be priced the same and still cost very different amounts. The lower-dues home leaves room for roughly $29,000 more mortgage at the same monthly outlay. Property taxes, insurance and any special assessments change the total. Dues are simply the line that varies most from one Rancho Bernardo community to the next. Over a year, $200 a month is $2,400.
This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Your lender and the HOA's own documents will show the numbers that apply to your purchase.
Set against September's attached prices
The dues math matters more when the list prices themselves are close. Here is what Rancho Bernardo's attached market looked like in September 2026, according to the San Diego Association of REALTORS ZIP reports for 92127, Rancho Bernardo West and 92128, Rancho Bernardo East:
| Condos and townhomes, September 2026 | 92127 Rancho Bernardo West | 92128 Rancho Bernardo East |
|---|---|---|
| Median sale price | $859,500, down 6.6% year over year | $640,000, down 6.6% year over year |
| Closed sales | 8, versus 10 a year earlier | 19, versus 30 a year earlier |
| Days on market | 36, versus 20 a year earlier | 45, versus 47 a year earlier |
SDAR notes that small sample sizes can make the percentage changes look extreme, and eight sales is a small sample.
At the 92128 median of $640,000, the roughly $29,000 a $200 dues gap represents is about 4.5% of the price. At the 92127 median, it is about 3.4%. With 19 attached sales in 92128 and 8 in 92127 in September, a buyer may not have many listings to compare at once. Comparing the full monthly cost of each one, dues included, is the most direct way to see which homes actually fit the budget.
City View's price is still unknown. The only figure on record is from July 2024, when Abboud said a two-bedroom would likely start "in the $800,000 range," based on similar developments. That estimate is more than two years old. It came before the affordable units were added, and it should not be read as a current price.
What else the hearing put on the record
A lower monthly cost comes with other features a buyer would want to weigh. These come from the hearing and the staff report:
- Parking. Each home would have a two-car garage, and the development would have 17 guest spaces. Abboud said guest spaces would be first-come, first-served, and that the association could further limit guest parking. A planning board member worried that visitors would end up parking at nearby businesses.
- Freeway noise. A resident who spoke at the hearing said the project's noise study predicts up to 72 decibels at walls facing the freeway. He said the homes would meet the city's 45-decibel indoor standard only with special dual-pane windows and mechanical ventilation. The staff report places Interstate 15 to the west of the site.
- Traffic. KB Home said the current office use generates about 1,155 vehicle trips a day, compared with 732 projected for City View.
- Affordable homes. Thirteen of the 122 homes would be deed-restricted for households earning at or below 100% of Area Median Income. The staff report counts 437 existing deed-restricted affordable homes in the Rancho Bernardo plan area as of July 2026. That is just over 2% of the community's homes, compared with 5% citywide. The 2024 plan had called for all market-rate homes and an in-lieu fee.
- Bedroom mix. The sources disagree. The Union-Tribune lists 50 two-bedroom, 50 three-bedroom and 22 four-bedroom homes of 1,200 to 2,200 square feet. The staff report lists 50 two-bedroom and 72 four-bedroom homes. The approved map and the eventual sales materials will settle it.
A few questions buyers are asking
Can I reserve a City View townhome now?
No sales process has been reported. The project still needs City Council action, and that will not happen before December.
Will dues really stay under $450?
That figure is KB Home's estimate from the October 15 hearing. Dues in any community depend on the association's budget and reserves. Abboud also said the association could set its own rules on matters like guest parking.
Does the dues math apply to resale homes too?
Yes. The roughly $29,000-per-$200 calculation depends only on the interest rate, so it works for any Rancho Bernardo condo or townhome listing. Rates change week to week, and the figure moves with them.
If you're weighing Rancho Bernardo condos and townhomes and want to compare the full monthly cost, dues included, from one community to the next, Jade Lee Duffy can help you line them up and keep you updated on City View's Council date. Book a Call whenever you're ready.
