Housing for BUSD staff to break ground in March

The workforce housing complex will include amenities such as a resident center with a kitchen, indoor gathering spaces, an outdoor courtyard, and about 55 parking spaces in an enclosed garage. Credit: SAHA/Abode Communities

The Berkeley school district expects to break ground by March on a project to create 110 units of affordable housing for district staff in the front parking lot of the Berkeley Adult School, at 1701 San Pablo Ave., which currently serves as the temporary location of Longfellow Middle School. 

During a workforce housing webinar on Tuesday, district officials said that the project, developed by Satellite Affordable Housing Associates (SAHA) and Abode Communities, will provide six stories of rental housing and is expected to be completed by 2027. Preference for the homes will be given to certified and classified BUSD staff, such as teachers, custodians and librarians, not to management. 

“Should there be workforce housing in Berkeley? Hell yes,” Juliana Jones, a math teacher at Longfellow, told Berkeleyside last week. “I’m getting older, but for our young teachers, it’s ridiculous they can’t pay rent.”

The project is funded with $24.5 million from 2018’s Measure O, a $135 million bond to support the development and preservation of affordable housing. In December 2019, the Berkeley City Council established a priority for a BUSD-sponsored educator housing project. The developers said other potential additional funding could come from California’s Middle Income Program, tax credits and state and federal grants.

The workforce housing complex will include amenities such as a resident center with a kitchen, indoor gathering spaces, an outdoor courtyard, and about 55 parking spaces in an enclosed garage, according to the project website. 

The project is moving forward despite the fact that Longfellow is expected to occupy the San Pablo Avenue site until around summer 2027. The relocation of the middle school was announced after severe dry rot was discovered on the school’s Derby Street campus in June. Construction of the workforce housing will likely be ongoing for much of Longfellow’s stay. 

The front parking lot at the Berkeley Adult School where the workforce housing will be built. Credit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside/CatchLight Local

BUSD leaders hosted the Tuesday webinar in part to address parents’ concerns about the construction, and the potential disruption it could cause. The district outlined what it will do to maintain what it said would be a safe learning environment while building occurs in the front lot.

“We know that it will not be a perfect process, but we are committed to doing as much as we can to mitigate and reduce impact,” BUSD Superintendent Enikia Ford Morthel said at the meeting. 

Some of those measures include building fences and a 20-foot sound barrier, which will cost an estimated $550,000 and will be placed between the construction site and classrooms. During construction, the Longfellow student drop-off area will be moved to the Virginia/Curtis streets side of campus.

The developers’ plans also include creating replacement parking for the Adult School. Longfellow Principal Salita Mitchell said they are exploring ways to maintain parking, especially for teachers with disabilities, including using spaces in the back parking lot where students play during breaks.  

Mitchell told Berkeleyside this week that teachers are excited about the housing project, especially those who regularly commute from faraway places like Antioch.

“We have several staff members, both classified and certified, that are interested in applying,” Mitchell said during the Tuesday meeting. “Whatever we have to do to make it work, we will.”

BUSD has long been exploring options to house its workers sustainably, but conversations began in earnest in 2016 after a new state law allowed school districts to establish affordable rental housing for employees. 

“This is an opportunity for our educators to be able to afford to live in the community that they commit their lives to, and serve every single day.”

BUSD Superintendent Enikia Ford Morthel

A 2017 survey commissioned by the district found that two-thirds of staff live outside of Berkeley, and more than half said the high cost of housing negatively impacts their long-term ability to stay. Four years later, the school board unanimously approved using the adult school parking lot as its educator workforce housing site. 

District officials recommended building on the adult school parking lot due to the area’s appropriate zoning laws and the campus’ proximity to public transportation. They said the project would improve BUSD’s recruitment and retention of quality teachers. 

“This is an opportunity for our educators to be able to afford to live in the community that they commit their lives to, and serve every single day,” Ford Morthel said during the webinar. 

Since the passage of the 2016 California law, several Bay Area districts have developed plans to build housing for their education workers. In August, Daly City opened its affordable housing complex for Jefferson Union High School District employees. In 2022, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors approved a 110-unit project to house teachers. Palo Alto expects to open its own school workforce housing summer next year, and Mountain View’s project began accepting rental applications in fall.

“We understand that during construction, it’s going to be inconvenient,” John Calise, Executive Director of BUSD Facilities, said during the Tuesday meeting. “We apologize for that, but it is a short inconvenience for a real long-term benefit, not only for the community but also for our educators.”

According to the project website, SAHA will begin accepting rental applications at the San Pablo Avenue location about six months after construction begins. Developers estimate rent will range from about $876 to $3,400 per month, depending on household size and income.