El Cajon Presses Kaiser to Move on 25-Acre Main and Greenfield Site
At its July 28 meeting, El Cajon City Council directed staff to bring back legal, financial, and land-use options for Kaiser's long-vacant 25-acre parcel at East Main Street and Greenfield Drive. Nothing is approved yet. This is the empty-state housing story El Cajon has been missing.
Why the lot is still empty
Kaiser has owned the former Scripps East County hospital site since the early 2000s with a promise of a regional medical campus that has not been built. Mayor Bill Wells called the lot an eyesore that pays no property tax because Kaiser is a nonprofit. Council considered rezoning the land from medical to residential in April 2025, then backed off after Kaiser asked for time. Staff now say the parcel is one of the last large development opportunities in a mostly built-out city, with housing among the public-benefit uses on the table. Kaiser says the site is still in its long-term capital plan.
Why it matters
- Twenty-five acres at Main and Greenfield is the kind of site that can become housing, a hospital, or sit empty for another decade.
- Any rezoning talk is early, but it is the biggest land-use lever left in central El Cajon.
- If you own nearby, watch traffic, school load, and whether medical or residential actually gets entitled before you price a move-up.
Sources: East County Magazine on the July Council direction; East County Magazine on the 2025 rezoning talk; East County Magazine on downtown El Cajon land-use.
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