Affordable housing for Santa Barbara Unified School District staff is officially on its way.
Late into its Tuesday meeting, the district board unanimously approved the leasing of its Tatum property to the developer Red Tail to build affordable housing for the SBUSD workforce. The decision ended in applause from the board and district administrators.
The project’s been a long time coming for a school district where, according to a district survey, only 11% of its staff feel their housing is affordable.
“This is what we’ve wanted from the beginning,” said board member Rose Muñoz. “It’s for our employees to be able to have housing and to prioritize them so that we could have employees that are not commuting and are able to live with their families here.”
The decision is the final legal step before the project begins development.
“It is really a landmark moment for us,” said Bill Banning, the board president.
The district will buy back a $7.4 million, four-acre piece of the original 24-acre site known as “Tatum” that it sold to Red Tail back in 2021 for $17 million.
The Tatum property is located on San Marcos Road and San Simeon Drive in the Eastern Goleta Valley. It will provide 106 income-restricted units consisting of one-, two- and three- bedrooms. Applicants’ income must be at or below 80% of the area median income to apply.
Of the 106 units, 97 will be prioritized for district employees. Second priority will be given to other local school districts, authorized charter schools and qualified nonprofits. Eight will be reserved for veterans, and one for a property manager, who will come from the Santa Barbara County Housing Authority.
The units will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis.
No money will come from the school district to finance the project. The county Housing Authority, which will manage the property, will find tax credits and search for other funding methods. Ed Zuchelli, the district spokesman, said a mix of private and federal financing, including tax credits, a county loan and a housing authority bond will pay for the project.
Last year, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors approved a $1.1 million loan to Red Tail for the development of the Tatum project.
Additionally, Red Tail will bring roughly $60 million to build the project, which is likely to take 18 to 24 months.
“We all know the cost of living in our area is one of the hardest challenges based in public education,” said Joanna Powell, the district’s legal counsel, who gave a presentation on the project. “Our teachers, classified staff, and other employees deserve to live in the community they serve, and this is opening the door for that.”
Bob Havlicek, executive director of the county Housing Authority, joined the meeting’s livestream to answer board member questions.
He said that once applicants are accepted, they can remain at that unit, even if they are promoted and make a higher income than the property’s income restriction requirement.
And for district staff who retire or find a new job outside the district, they are still entitled to stay in that unit. Though the Housing Authority can encourage looking at other affordable housing developments to free up space for other district staff, it cannot evict someone for leaving the district.
The Tatum property is the first affordable housing project the district has approved for its workforce.
Though the landmark item wasn’t approved until the fifth hour of the meeting, when most of the public had already left, Banning assured that “this is something that has been on our radar for some time.”
“I just want to make sure it doesn’t appear that this is a late-night type of decision that hasn’t been completely considered and something that we’re not thrilled about,” Banning said.
Indeed, the district’s efforts to build affordable housing for its workforce have been in the works for over a decade.
Separately, the district is working on another affordable housing project near Milpas Street across from the Trader Joe’s. It’s also interested in a 7.7-acre property across from Dos Pueblos High School.
The Tatum project is expected to break ground in late July.
