San Diego Unified School District leaders want to build hundreds of homes for educators. This month, they appeared poised to launch the most ambitious housing project on school land in California history.
But the district suddenly got cold feet and it’s not clear where they will go from here.
What happened
Like everyone, teachers are dealing with San Diego's housing affordability crisis. District leaders asked developers to propose projects on school land, including the site of its former headquarters in University Heights. Developers would get the land, the district would get some rent, and employees would get affordable homes.
The district considered more than a dozen proposals. A committee reviewed them and recommended projects that would amount to about 1,500 new homes for district employees.
But then a dispute arose. The committee had asked developers to maximize affordability — but did that mean prioritizing the cheapest possible units? Or building the greatest number of cheaper units?
The response
District Board President Cody Petterson was among those who wanted to maximize the number of cheaper units.
But at the board meeting earlier this month, longtime board member Richard Barrera suggested developers needed to rework their proposals.
“I want proposals that meet our goals — period. So let’s see what you come back with,” Barrera said.
The comments left Petterson perplexed.
“Wait, hold on, we have to stop here,” Petterson said. “Is this actually — we're going to say that we're now going to completely resubmit new proposals? That these — this is so wild. I’m completely stunned.”
In the end, the board couldn’t make a decision and didn’t give developers additional direction. Instead, the board plans to conduct a workshop in the near future.
As for San Diego Unified educators, relief from the high cost of housing is on hold.
