Staff Housing Roadmap

Staff Housing at the Sevens offers Mountain View its first affordable housing development created specifically for MVWSD staff members.

The new community includes 123 state-of-the-art units for qualifying staff members to rent at below-market rates. It features landscaping, a publicly accessible pedestrian paseo, and a Class I bike path.

Rationale

Our District’s tagline is “A Foundation of Excellence. A Future of Achievement.” And that foundation starts with retaining exceptional teachers and staff members.

Yet the median home value in Mountain View is over $1,425,000, putting home ownership squarely out of reach for many educators and staff. In fact, the District found in a 2017 staff survey that 79% of respondents pay more than 35% of their household income toward housing costs, with more than half saying they would live in staff housing if provided.

Creating this opportunity continues to be essential to our District’s future success. This partnership will ultimately benefit our students, families, and the greater community.

Background & Funding

The community, conveniently located at 699 N. Shoreline Blvd, stems from a collaboration among MVWSD, the City of Mountain View, and Fortbay/Miramar Property Group. Construction began in 2022 and is on track to be completed in 2025.

The project is financed mostly with $88 million through MVWSD's Measure T, passed in 2020. There are additional contributions from the City and the developer, as well as the revenue from the rent collected when the units are occupied.

Read the Roadmap: A step-by-step guide for creating affordable housing

Mountain View Whisman’s superintendent Ayindé Rudolph, Ed.D., has authored a first-of-its-kind document on affordable housing facilities. The roadmap offers school districts across the country a step-by-step guide for creating affordable housing facilities to attract and retain teachers in high-rent areas.

"Laying the Foundation: A Roadmap to Establishing Affordable Teacher Housing” details best practices from the development of a teacher and staff housing facility in our own district.

Read the roadmap to learn more: