Mayor, Councilmember Want Presentation on PUSD Affordable Housing Project

At the conclusion of Monday’s City Council meeting, Mayor Victor Gordo said he would ask City leaders to work with school officials to schedule a presentation where the Pasadena Unified School District can outline the potential effects of a proposed development and ballot measure.

Earlier this month, the school Board voted 6-1 to move forward with a controversial workforce housing project at the site of Roosevelt Elementary School.

The vote approved plans to pursue a streamlined entitlement process for approximately 115 units on District-owned property.

The project would create affordable housing for District employees. Families attending local schools would not be eligible to rent the units.

The money to build the project would come from Measure R, which is scheduled to appear on the November ballot.

The Board voted to use two California laws that in concert create streamlined processes for developing housing, particularly on school district-owned land. By invoking this pathway, the District would be able to bypass certain local zoning restrictions and lengthy approval processes, including CEQA review.

This approach, recommended by the Superintendent’s Advisory Committee, was chosen over two other options: a full city entitlement process, which would take about 24 months. The streamlined pathway could cut the process time in half.

“I think it’s crucial to have a presentation here at the council to discuss the implications of their ballot measures,” Gordo said after Tyron Hampton brought up the item for discussion at a future meeting either at the City Council or a committee meeting.

“We need to address how these measures might impact the development of school sites, especially those located in residential neighborhoods rather than Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) centers. I’ll ask the City Manager and the City Attorney to work with the PUSD staff to schedule that.”

The School Board-approved plan includes a mix of one- to four-bedroom units, with a shift toward more family-sized apartments compared to earlier proposals. The approved unit mix consists of approximately 30% one-bedroom, 40% two-bedroom, and 30% three-plus bedroom units.

The project is expected to generate about $1.3 million in annual net operating income for the District. Some School Board Members expressed concern that this figure was lower than earlier projections of over $2 million.

The conceptual rent distribution ranges from $600 for a one-bedroom unit at the 10th salary percentile to $3,500 for a four-bedroom unit at the 100th percentile.