The Los Altos School District recently secured an additional 12 affordable housing units for teachers and staff at the 231 Grant Ave. Educator Workforce Housing project in Palo Alto, bringing its total to 24 units.
The extra 12 units became available when the Mountain View Los Altos High School District opted not to invest in the project. The 24 units will be made available to LASD employees for the next 55 years.
According to Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian, the decision was the “last piece of the puzzle” in completing the planning for the housing project before construction breaks ground in August. The 110-unit collaborative project aims to provide affordable housing for teachers and school staff in an area where the high cost of living hampers employee recruitment and retention.
The LASD Board of Trustees initially approved a funding agreement with the county in January to contribute $600,000 in exchange for 12 below-market-rate units to rent to staff, with trustee Bryan Johnson inquiring about the possibility of buying additional units at the site if other districts chose to not invest, saying at the time that LASD would purchase more units if available.
“I’m really excited about this and I did have a similar question as to what happens if someone drops out,” board president Jessica Speiser told Maegan Pearson of Abode Communities, the project’s co-developer along with Mercy Housing California, at the Jan. 9 board meeting. “We really need units and we do want to support our teachers.”
“I wish we had more to give you,” Pearson responded, smiling.
It looks like Pearson and the trustees’ wish came true, as MVLA passed on the funding agreement so that its feeder school districts – LASD and the Mountain View Whisman School District – could have the opportunity to purchase more units. MVLA Superintendent Nellie Meyer told the Town Crier in January that while the district was interested in the low-cost housing opportunity, the need among MVLA staff is lower, as the salary range for its teachers is much higher than at the surrounding elementary school districts.
“MVLA would like the occupancy rights to the 12 units now designated for MVLA to be purchased instead by districts that have a far greater need,” Meyer wrote to housing project planners in February. “Our hope is that our partner districts, MVWSD and LASD, from which our students come, will be the ones entering into the contract to purchase those additional rights to occupancy at the affordable rents the contract prescribes.”
The remaining units were offered to LASD, as administrators previously expressed interest in them. The deal was approved, pending an amended funding agreement at $1.2 million for the 24 units. To fund the investment, the district will use bond funds for a maintenance lighting project, freeing up rental income money to allocate to the housing project.
“We’re doing everything within our means to do what’s right for our staff and teachers, and I love that we get this option,” Speiser said.
Why teacher housing?
The agreement marks LASD’s first venture into offering housing for staff amid a regional affordability crisis that makes it difficult for educators to live where they work. LASD teachers earn between $65,000 and $118,000 at the highest level of the salary schedule, putting them below the individual area median income of $102,000 for a good portion of their careers.
“These units serve as one part of our overall plan to be able to better attract and retain our dedicated and talented LASD staff,” LASD Superintendent Sandra McGonagle said in an email to the Town Crier. “It is incredibly expensive to live locally, and we know there is great benefit when our staff is able to be a part of the local community – it builds long-lasting connection and relationships.”
Simitian first proposed the project in 2018 as a response to the rising cost of living in the area, recognizing the need for school employees to be able to live in the area when salaries were not matching skyrocketing housing costs.
Five years ago, the idea of school staff housing was novel, and Simitian said he is gratified that people now recognize the need for such projects. At the time, he hoped the Palo Alto project would inspire similar projects around the county.
Simitian’s hopes have been realized, as wheels have begun turning on another local project. The County Board of Supervisors recently approved a property exchange agreement for a 5-acre parcel at 10333 N. Wolfe Road in Cupertino, which gives the county the opportunity to develop housing for teachers and school employees in the West Valley area.
“When we started on this effort five years ago, teacher housing wasn’t a thing,” Simitian told the Town Crier. “Now it is a thing that people understand and appreciate and see as a real tool to create stronger schools and stronger communities.”
Project details
The 231 Grant Ave. project is sponsored by the city of Palo Alto, surrounding school districts and Meta/Facebook, which contributed $25 million to the project in 2019.
The complex will include a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom units as well as indoor and outdoor communal spaces, vehicle and bike parking and other residential amenities.
The project will be built on a 1.4-acre parcel of land the county donated on Grant Avenue between Park Boulevard and Birch Street. Construction is set to begin this summer and wrap up in late 2024 or early 2025.
The plurality of the project’s units are set aside for employees of south San Mateo County school districts partnering with Meta/Facebook. Other districts that have invested include MVWSD, the Foothill-De Anza Community College District and the Palo Alto Unified School District.
The units are estimated to run between $800 and $2,500 monthly below current market rates and are designed so a household is not paying more than 30% of its income on rent, according to the developers.
For more information on the project, visit tinyurl.com/231grant.
This article was updated May 11 to reflect that the money invested in the new units comes from 10th site rental income, not LASD’s general fund.
