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The Ravenswood City School District school board voted unanimously on March 9 to enter into a contract with Alliant Strategic Development to build teacher-prioritized affordable housing on the site of the former James Flood Magnet School in Menlo Park.
The agreement with Alliant Strategic Development specifies that the project would have 80 to 90 affordable rental units, with priority for teachers and school staff. The proposed agreement includes a 90-year ground lease, with the school district retaining ownership of the land. Ravenswood will receive about 20% of the gross rent from the units annually over 90 years.
The cost of the project is estimated to be between $50 million and $60 million, according to a district presentation, though the design of the project has not been completed.
According to the contract, the developers have a maximum of 39 months to begin construction.
The campus at 321 Sheridan Drive in the Suburban Park neighborhood has sat vacant for a decade before becoming a flashpoint in the affordable housing debate during the 2022 election. Neighborhood opposition coalesced behind Measure V, a citizens initiative proposed by residents of Suburban Park that sought to put all rezoning of single-family homes to a citywide vote, stripping the authority from the Menlo Park City Council.
Measure V was soundly defeated in the November 2022 election, but received its highest level of support in the precincts surrounding Flood School.
One strong concern held by residents was about traffic in the neighborhood, and the new drivers that the units would bring. To combat this, the school board is asking the Menlo Park City Council and the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors to contribute the funding to build a second entrance onto the property that would lessen the number of vehicles traveling through Suburban Park.
The district is considering two possible locations for the second entrance, one through Flood County Park and a second alongside Van Buren Road.
I’m glad to see the second entrance to this property is being seriously explored by the Ravenswood school district and the developer. A second entrance should be mandatory for the safety of all concerned.
Gosh, for $60 million the district could buy 60 homes in East Palo Alto outright. Or, put sizable down payments on 120 homes and make paying off the mortgage part of a long term strategy to get staff and teachers to commit to the district.
Heck, thinking of previous articles on the massive declines in students attending Ravenswood schools, getting more staff/teachers into homes into East Palo Alto homes would definitely help student numbers as families are started in the stable single family homes the district helped them get. Would help East Palo Alto get more resident homeowners as well, further stabilizing the student numbers and surrounding community.
“Gosh, for $60 million the district could buy 60 homes in East Palo Alto outright”
Correct BUT the District isn’t spending $60 million (which it also does not have) on this project. The developer is spending that $60 million in return for an asset (the use of the District’s land).
Mary, please explain, describe, the second entrance to the Flood school site. A second entrance is not going to be through Flood Park.
A second entrance has never existed. What are the repercussions for residents that you think should have an entrance in their neighborhood?
https://www.almanacnews.com/news/2022/07/24/guest-opinion-we-support-the-flood-school-housing-compromise
“Based on the mediation efforts led by Council member Drew Combs, Mueller proposed the following:
• The city of Menlo Park would work with Caltrans and LifeMoves to open an additional access road to the site from Van Buren Road
• Ravenswood would install a removable physical barrier that halves the site, allocating vehicle traffic from the site to two entrances. (For the Suburban Park community, this would mean at rush hour there would be one additional car every 3.5 minutes.)”
An entrance on Hedge Road also didn’t exist when the Flood School operated. Also, a school that operates for a portion of about half of the days during a year is far different than a residential complex. The safety issues are very important. Imagine something tragic like a fire in the building complex. Take a look at the map and see if a fire vehicle or ambulance was arriving from the south side and needed to travel north all the way around Suburban Park and double back down Hedge Road. Imagine that same fire situation and having residents exiting from that one narrow road at the same time? Having two entrances/exits is a very basic safety issue.
Peter,
Thank you for the information. Do you have a link to the developer spending the “$50-$60 million” on the Flood site project?
Are you sure that the district does not have those funds? Measure I funds could not be used for such projects? If they can not, wouldn’t the $110 million bond for school improvement free up some of that money for the project?
Again, thank you for your info on this matter
Resident – I will pass on doing more research for other people. Doing so simply encourages people to be lazy. Everyone on this site has access to the same search tools and information that I do.
Peter,
My question is not based on a lack of searching, or a lack of knowledge about similar projects.
Specifically, my question is based on knowledge of similar projects and how money was spent (and who spent it) on them. Also, a search on articles detailing the expenditures did not bring the specific assertion that you made (Ravenswood’s vs. Alliant’s expenditures).
Understanding your concerns, please accept my apology for my question