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The East Palo Alto City Council offered a boost to a 430-unit housing project for school staff and residents at 2120-2160 Euclid Ave. when it approved the affordability levels for the project last week..
Under the plans, which the council approved on Sept. 1, the developer will construct more ultra low-income housing for the city but get an exemption from the city’s typical rules for affordable-housing developments.
The Ravenswood school district, alongside developer, The Pacific Companies, submitted the application in 2023 to construct a mix of studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom units, ranging from 400 to 1,100 square feet across two, six-story apartment buildings. Plans also included 2,071 square feet of retail space.
Although the housing project was considered 100% affordable, developers requested “alternative compliance” to the East Palo Alto’s Inclusionary Housing Ordinance, which means its plans did not fully align with the city’s affordable housing laws.
The city’s inclusionary housing ordinance requires developers to dedicate 20% of new rental units to affordable housing for people who earn 35%, 50% and 60% of the average median income, which is approximately $114,000.
Instead, the city council allowed the developer to construct very low income units at 30% of the average median income in lieu of the required amount of units at the 50% level.
Under the approved plan, 39 of the units would be provided subject to the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance, with 18 at 30% of the average median income, 3 units at 50% and 18 units at 60%.
But that’s not the extent of the affordable housing included in the project. There will be 156 more affordable units that did not contribute to the project’s inclusionary housing goals, because they were funded by outside sources or fell under state density bonuses – a law that allows developers to build more units if they are affordable.
The 78-units added through the state density bonus include five apartments for renters who make 35% of the average median income, 10 for those at 50%, 54 for households that are at 60% and 9 for those at 80%.
Additionally, Sand Hill Properties helped fund 78 affordable units for renters who make less or equal to 60% of the average median income.
The property company, which is East Palo Alto’s biggest landlord, had put on pause construction for a 550-unit housing project, after demolishing 160 residential units to make way for the new homes. Instead of allocating 20% of its units to affordable housing, Sand Hill had proposed to contribute $23 million to support affordable housing production at 851 Weeks Street.
Then, citing rising development costs, the company switched gears and proposed contributing $14 million to the teacher housing project, which was approved in July.
According to city documents, 195 units are subject to the city’s local preference policy, which gives priority to East Palo Alto residents, those who work in the city or have been displaced. Ravenswood City School District employees will receive priority outside of the city’s preference policy.
A variety of school staff, including educators, people on the transportation team, nutritionists and paraeducators, will have access to the housing project, Superintendent Gina Sudaria said at the Sept. 1 City council meeting.
“We’re not just serving our staff but our families as well, who want to continue staying in the area and attending schools here in Ravenswood,” Sudaria said.
Residents and educators have spoken at City council meetings to express concerns over rising housing costs and dwindling student enrollment caused by displacement.
Vice Mayor Ruben Abrica said the rare opportunity to collaborate with the district on the project can help address lack of affordable housing.
“The fact of the matter is that we have been losing people, who just can’t afford to live here,” he said. “They take their kids with them and enrollment keeps going down.”
