The San Diego Unified Board of Education is holding special meetings on Monday and Tuesday to select housing development proposals for four district properties. The board selected a proposal to develop housing on a fifth property in December.
The district’s goal is to build 1,500 affordable apartments to house its employees and their families, including studios and units with up to three bedrooms.
The district is interested in proposals that would be affordable for employees at different income levels — from custodians to teachers, said Richard Barrera, president of the board.
“The definition of affordability that we've been clear about is we don't want our employees to pay more than 30% of their family income on rent, but which of that group of employees will be prioritized, the different developers came with different ideas around that,” Barrera said.
All three companies bidding on developing the Eugene Brucker Education Center — the district’s administrative headquarters in University Heights — are proposing 700 or more units, making it the largest of the five development sites.
The other four sites are the Revere Center in Linda Vista, the Fremont/Ballard Center in Old Town, the Instructional Media Center in the Birdland neighborhood, and a 40,000-square-foot property sitting vacant at 2101 Commercial St. in Logan Heights.
A district workforce housing survey found that most staff have considered leaving the district due to high housing costs, according to a staff presentation.
Barrera said the plan to develop affordable workforce housing is “such an important strategy to recruit and retain quality employees in one of the most expensive housing markets in the country.”
After proposals are selected, the district will begin negotiations with the chosen developer before a final plan returns to the board later this year, Barrera said.
