With the nation’s eyes on San Diego, its school district approved the highest-density workforce housing plan on offer.
After a two-hour special meeting on Monday, the San Diego Unified’s Board of Education voted unanimously to rebuild its district headquarters in University Heights into 1,500 units in an 11-story development.
The proposal, developer team PROTEA/Malick’s, was the densest and targeted affordability for district teachers, while including close to 600 apartments as multi-bedroom units for families.
One board member during the meeting said she had received calls from school boards in other states saying they were watching the district’s decision and planned to follow it as a model.
Trustee Cody Petterson shared that the project was bigger than what he initially thought possible. Keeping the units affordable for teachers and staff was a challenge with expensive reinforced steel on projects above seven stories.
But thanks to California updating its building code in 2021, large-format, engineered wood can now be used in buildings up to 18 stories tall. Known as mass timber, the construction material is hailed not only for being cheaper than concrete and steel, but as the greenest way to build, because wood is renewable.
This would also be the biggest mass timber build in San Diego’s history.
The unit number cements San Diego Unified’s effort as the largest educator workforce housing initiative in California history.
Although Petterson said he was initially startled by the 11-story tower, he was swayed by the project’s location and the seriousness of the housing crisis.
“If you close your eyes and you’re like, ‘Where should we put our teachers? Where should we put our classified employees? Where should we put San Diegans in general, on a map? It would literally be right here,” Petterson said. “This is where we would put it.”
Petterson made the motion for staff to negotiate with PROTEA/Malick, with a few conditions.
The development team said in its presentation that it would be willing to reduce revenue to the school district in order to lower the rents. The board was uncomfortable with profiting from its staff’s rent payments and that rents went up to 120% of area median income.
At the same time, past education workforce housing efforts in Los Angeles failed to house teachers because their incomes, especially when combined with a partner’s, often disqualified them from income-restricted housing.
The teachers union spoke in favor of PROTEA/Malick partially because of its mixed income rent levels and high density. A representative for Mayor Todd Gloria also spoke in favor of the project.
Petterson expressed disinterest in having senior housing units dedicated to retired staff. The development team put forward the idea but said those units could also be workforce housing if the district wanted.
The board also wanted further setbacks for the buildings and to move the 11-story tower to a different location on the 13-acre site so it would not overlook the elementary school.
The board was divided on the limited parking in the project. While the development is located in a walkable neighborhood served by several bus lines, Trustee Shana Hazan pointed out staff living there might still work at suburban schools without nearby transit.
District staff pledged to survey its workforce on household income, rather than individual income, and car usage. That data would inform negotiations with the developer and help the board nail down details like the amount of units at each income level.
The vote came after a month-long postponement in December, giving the public and board time to look at the top three proposals.
District staff recommended the project from developer Affirmed, with all units restricted to those making 30% to 80% of AMI. But the Affirmed project had many detractors. Uptown residents were not impressed with its community amenities or aesthetics, and Trustee Sharon Whitehurst-Payne expressed concern that if the development was too boxy, it would lead to stigma similar to that around military housing in the past.
Public comments were generally divided between proposals from Monarch and PROTEA/Malick. Both offered ground-level retail and popular public amenities like a community pool. Some pushed for the more modest 700-unit Monarch proposal for its high parking ratio, renovation of historic buildings and preservation of heritage trees.
But PROTEA/Malick, with its focus on green building and transit-oriented dense development, had its share of supporters.
“If you actually look at the community-facing amenities and the open spaces created, as well as the first floor amenities, for better or worse, those towers do allow a lot of that square footage to open up and to become a site of placemaking,” Petterson said.
Many appreciated that it was the only development team to come up with a plan to “fix the fork,” the huge and confusing intersection of Normal Street, Park Boulevard and El Cajon Boulevard. However, that infrastructure upgrade would be paid for by a potential Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District, and is not part of the actual development proposal.
PROTEA/Malick was also the only development team not to include any LIHTC-funded buildings. Instead, the team promised to restrict rents to 30% of the actual income of district staff, not federal income bands.
The school board decided to go forward with the ambitious proposal, although it cautioned against a bait and switch. Petterson brought up the Midway Rising project as an example of a development plagued with delays and failing to meet initial promises.
As staff negotiate best-and-final term sheets, Petterson said it should include terms PROTEA/Malick must meet or the school board would commit to recirculating the Request For Proposals, as painful as that would be.
“There would need to be clear parameters about changes to the project,” the trustee said.
Unexpected, ongoing delays could prevent the district’s goal of housing 10% of its workforce by 2030. In its current proposal, construction of the multi-block development would be completed in 2031.
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