Nearly 1,500 affordable housing units could be in the future for San Diego Unified School District employees, if the school board approves proposals Wednesday to develop on district land.
The proposals, to be discussed at the 4:30 p.m. meeting at the Eugene Brucker Education Center, 4100 Normal St., entail using three developers for five properties. SDUSD anticipates receiving an estimated $504 million in revenue over 99 years from the five properties if the agreements are finalized as outlined in the proposals.
"We are ready to take the next step toward building affordable housing to support our educators," said Superintendent Fabi Bagula. "Our schools are at their best when the people who teach, support, and care for our students can also call this community home. Affordable housing allows our workforce to live close to the students they serve, build meaningful connections with families, and fully participate in the life of our neighborhoods.
"Building affordable housing, and the district retaining ownership of the land to collect annual lease revenue, strengthens our schools and the surrounding San Diego neighborhoods."
The five locations being proposed are:
- Eugene Brucker Education Center, Affirmed Housing Group, 943 units;
- Revere Center, 6735 Gifford Way, Decro Corporation, 220 units;
- Fremont/Ballard Center, 2375 Congress St., Bridge Housing Corporation,140 units;
- Instructional Media Center, 2441 Cardinal Lane, Decro, 107 units; and
- Commercial Street, 2101 Commercial St., Decro, 87 units.
Those locations and developers were selected through a process winnowing down 15 submissions. If an agreement on any location cannot be reached, the district can approach the second-highest scored proposer.
"This has been a thoughtful and transparent process guided by community input and an impartial evaluation committee," said Lee Dulgerof, senior executive director of the district's facilities planning and construction. "The proposals selected rose to the level of what our educators, support staff, and community deserve, and they mark an important step toward creating affordable homes for the people who help our schools thrive."
The board in March voted to allow the district to request proposals to create employee housing. If approved, the 1,497 units will nearly double the number of school district housing units built across the state since 2002.
