Employee Housing Development
Santa Barbara Unified School District Housing Development Update
Santa Barbara Unified has spent more than a year working to develop housing for our teachers and staff. In an update to that project, we are excited to announce that we now have plans to build around 330 homes for our workforce.
This work began in January 2023 after District leaders heard feedback from staff members about the need for affordable workforce housing. Additionally, these projects aim to help recruit and retain staff better. In response, the SB Unified Board created a committee to review District-owned properties for potential housing developments on our own land.
As we plan to give over 1700 employees of varying levels of income a salary increase, we know that this raise is not enough to cover the high rents and mortgages in this community.
At the start of this process, a survey was sent to all staff with more than 450 responses. Only 11% of our staff feel their housing is affordable and about 60% said they would be interested in living in a housing community from our School District.
It is important to note that these projects are being developed without a direct cost to the District. These proposed housing projects are being developed with the help of the Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara, which is working to find tax credits and other funding methods to pay for the project. Additionally, they will be handling the development and management of these facilities. Below is a recap of the two current projects; however, the District is also assessing other sites it owns for future projects.
Parma School
As previously shared, the District is also building roughly 30 units of housing at the Parma School site. This project is still in development, but the District and Housing Authority are in the process of applying for tax credits and planning a community meeting for neighbors of the project.
Glen Annie
Recently, the developers of the Glen Annie housing development across from Dos Pueblos High School offered 7.7 acres of land to build about 200-300 units.
The project has received rezoning approval from the County Board of Supervisors and will now move through both the next steps of the county’s planning process and the design phase. During this part of the project, questions like exactly how many units, types of buildings, rules around occupancy, and more will need to be worked out. Additionally, developers will be working with the County and City of Goleta about questions like infrastructure and exact designs of the whole project. We know there are a lot of questions about the project. However, this project is being proposed regardless of our participation. We do not want to pass up the opportunity to help provide affordable housing options for our staff.
Tatum Property
Another affordable project is the undeveloped Tatum property in the Eastern Goleta Valley. The affordable portion of the project, estimated to be 110 units, is also expected to be earmarked for district staff. The District is working with the Housing Authority of Santa Barbara County on this project and is in the final stages of land use entitlement with the County of Santa Barbara.
More details on all of these projects will be provided as they develop.