SAN DIEGO — The San Diego City Council voted 8-1 Monday in favor of a proposal to redevelop six blocks with city-owned buildings in the downtown civic core.

The Civic Center Revitalization Project declares five blocks as surplus while carving out a block for a new city administration building.

Jay Goldstone, the mayor’s special advisor and lead planner for the project, says the dilapidated buildings are wasting taxpayer dollars.

“In terms of the new city administration building, there’s no question that this building is outdated. We’re spending more money just maintaining it each year than if we were to build a new building,” said Goldstone.

Another goal of the revitalization plan is to create more housing, including 1,000 to 1,500 units of affordable housing.

“I think when we’re all upset about homelessness, and rightfully so, the fact the matter is that is driven by our housing affordability crisis and one of the ways we can tackle it is by better utilizing public land and put it to the use of addressing this particular problem,” said San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria.

Before voting on the revitalization project, the city council heard Gloria’s $5.12 billion budget proposal for fiscal year 2024.

The mayor says his budget once again fully funds public safety departments.

The budget also includes nearly $82 million for homelessness services, along with $140 million for street repairs.

“We can’t solve either of these problems of homelessness or road repair in one budget, but this is a substantial down payment that I believe that we can continue to execute upon,” said Gloria.

The city council will take public comment on the budget, which is expected to be adopted in June.