The San Diego Unified School District board is moving forward with plans to convert some district property into affordable workforce housing.
On Tuesday, the board voted to seek proposals from developers for five sites:
- Eugene Brucker Education Center, 4100 Normal St.
- Revere Center, 6735 Gifford Way
- Fremont/Ballard Center, 2375 Congress St.
- Instructional Media Center, 2441 Cardinal Lane
- Commercial Street, 2101 Commercial St.
The district would continue to own the land while the developer pays to build and operate the housing.
Last year, more than 50 district employees and their families moved into Livia, a housing development built on district land in Scripps Ranch. Affordable units make up 20% of the units there, while the rest are market rate.
It’s been life-changing for staff who otherwise couldn’t afford to live where they teach, said San Diego Education Association President Kyle Weinberg.
“We have an educator … who was commuting from Tijuana for 10 years, waking up at two in the morning to wait in line at the border with her five kids,” Weinberg told the board Tuesday night. “Now, she's paying half of market rate to live in a three-bedroom apartment at Livia in Scripps Ranch.”
District leaders said they want to provide housing that’s affordable — meaning tenants are spending less than 30% of their monthly income on rent — for both low- and middle-income staff.
“Somewhere ranging from, say, 50% area median income all the way up to 100% or 120% area median income,” said Lee Dulgeroff, who leads the district’s facilities, planning and construction. “Even people making 100% to 120% sometimes struggle to meet that 30% of their income threshold in our really costly housing environment.”
Fifty percent of the area median income is $75,750 for a family of four, while 120% is $143,400.
A survey of more than 2,000 district staff found that most had considered leaving San Diego Unified because of high housing costs.
“It’s very hard to be in public education in an urban district, especially a coastal, urban district, and not recognize that the lack of affordable housing is a critical issue for our school system,” Board President Cody Petterson said.
Along with housing and adequate parking, each property must include something the district can use, like a childcare center or student garden.
Some University Heights and Hillcrest residents shared their priorities for the Eugene Brucker Education Center site at Tuesday’s meeting. Zach Thompson, a member of the community group Vibrant Uptown, asked the board to build as many units as possible there.
“We need to worry not only about the supply for our teachers and staff, but the community as a whole,” Thompson said. “We're talking about some of the best public land we have in the community.”
The district will hold meetings at each location to gather community input in the coming months. The board plans to consider the developers’ proposals in December.
