The San Jose (California) Unified School District intends to develop hundreds of apartments and offer them at rental rates that district employees can afford.
The Mercury News reports that the district has proposed the development of a 288-unit apartment project in San Jose that would provide housing for the district's rank-and-file workers.
"Workplace housing is a pressing issue for us," said Seth Reddy, the district's chief business officer. "We cannot pay our staff sufficient wages to live in comfort and dignity in this area."
The proposed workforce housing apartments would rise adjacent to the district's seven-building Silicon Valley Education Campus.
"When you look at the median income needed to afford housing in San Jose, that expense is beyond what even our highest-paid employees can afford," Reddy said.
District voters approved a $1.15 billion bond proposal in November 2024 that includes funds for the housing. The cost of the complex is expected to be $282.5 million.
The development site is near a light rail transit line and is within a designated San Jose urban village.
Other efforts are underway to attempt to address the "missing middle" of workers who make too much money to qualify for numerous affordable housing projects but don't make enough to rent or buy market-rate residences.
San Jose State University is eyeing a plan to replace the aging Alquist State Building in downtown San Jose with at least 1,000 residences.
