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The Mountain View Whisman School District is in the midst an exciting partnership with a real estate developer and the City of Mountain View for the city’s first affordable housing development created specifically for MVWSD staff members. It is a collaborative effort between MVWSD, the City, and Fortbay/Miramar Property Group.
Housing Specifics: The new community, which will include 123 units for rental by staff members, is being built as part of a planned 716-unit project at 777 West Middlefield Rd at the existing Village Lakes Apartments. The developer, Fortbay/Miramar Property Group, will build 19 studios, 87 one-bedroom, and 38 two-bedroom units for rent at below market rate by mostly MVWSD staff members.
The development will feature landscaping, a publicly accessible pedestrian paseo, and a Class I bike path connecting Middlefield Rd and Shoreline Blvd. Construction began in 2022 and is to be completed in 2025.
The Need: There is a clear need for affordable housing for employees of MVWSD. In 2019, the District worked with consultants Dutra Cerro Graden to explore the feasibility of staff housing. “In Mountain View in particular, the median home value is over $1,425,000, putting home ownership out of reach for all but a very select few, let alone public servants like educators with an entry annual salary of less than $65,000,” the DCG report cited. In its December 2017 survey, the District found that 79% of respondents pay more than 35% of their household income towards housing costs, 59% of staff members said they would live in staff housing if provided, and 71% of these staff members fall into low and low/moderate income level categories.
Rationale: Our District’s tagline is “A Foundation of Excellence. A Future of Achievement”. And that foundation starts with retaining great teachers and staff members. Creating this opportunity is essential to our District’s continued success. Considering that living expenses are cited as the number one reason why we lose staff members, this partnership will ultimately benefit our students, families and the greater community,” said Superintendent Dr. Ayindé Rudolph.
Funding: 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, and 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 for school districts. 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. The facility, which opens in 2025, provides 123 studio, 1- and 2- bedroom units at below-rate rent for teachers and staff.
Read the roadmap to learn more:
Construction progresses, Sept 2023 (video)
Groundbreaking celebration, November 2022 (video)
Media coverage
NBC's Today
Washington Examiner
League of Innovative Schools
Mountain View Voice
ABC 7
NBC Bay Area
Fox 2 TV
Univision 14
KCBS
KQED
Mercury News
Architects' renderings of what the project will look like
