Hundreds of students in one community college district may not have to worry about housing insecurity as it builds out affordable off-campus apartments — a first of its kind project in Santa Clara County.
The Foothill-De Anza Community College District board of trustees voted unanimously Monday to purchase an existing 94-home apartment building and transform it into affordable housing that will provide 332 beds for students attending either De Anza or Foothill colleges. Money from Measure G — an $898 million bond measure voters passed in 2020 — will fund the $66.7 million purchase of McClellan Terrace Apartments from owners Prometheus Real Estate Group and McClellan Road LP. The project, located at 7918 McClellan Road in Cupertino, aims to address the increasing need for affordable student housing near campus.
The college district, which serves 30,000 students, will renovate rather than demolish the building. All existing tenants will be forced to move, but the property owner and district will provide relocation assistance. Renters on a 12-month lease will be allowed to live there until the lease expires, while people on a month-to-month lease will be given a minimum of a four-month notice. Students are expected to start moving into vacant apartments in August and September. Rent is still undetermined.
Board President Peter Landsberger said he supports the project because he’s seen firsthand students struggle with the cost of living.
“It’s increasingly obvious that to ensure that our students have the basic wherewithal to successfully complete their educational goals at the colleges, we need to start addressing those concerns directly,” he told San José Spotlight. “It’s a big change, but an important change.”
Landsberger allowed former De Anza College student Genevieve Kolar — who was one of the hundreds of students reportedly facing housing insecurity in the district — to stay with him for free when she was a student just before the pandemic.
Kolar eventually completed her associate’s degree after she secured stable housing. But at the time, finding stable housing while in school would have made a huge difference.
“There are times when I literally had my counselor (say) to me, ‘You need to figure out your housing situation before you’re able to focus on school. Like, it’s no wonder you can’t focus right now because you don’t have a stable situation,’” Kolar told San José Spotlight.
The project will force tenants like Jaya Gupta to move, something she’s adamantly opposed to. She’s lived there for four years with her children and said she received no notice while the district was in discussions with the property owner.
Gupta said it would be difficult to afford to move elsewhere and she doesn’t want her children’s education to be disrupted.
“It’s too costly, definitely, but apart from that even moving away from this area would be a big challenge for us as working parents,” she told San José Spotlight.
A representative for Prometheus Real Estate Group did not respond to a request for comment.
Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens said the project could set the standard for the state. Ahrens served on the district’s board of trustees when voters approved Measure G, after experiencing housing insecurity himself while attending De Anza College.
“There’s so many students right now that make it in spite of their housing insecurity, but this is going to be a game changer,” he told San José Spotlight. “This is going to be a model for the rest of the state, for community colleges to adopt truly affordable housing, so that students, regardless of their background or their economic status, can achieve their California and American dream.”
Contact Annalise Freimarck at annalise@sanjosespotlight.com or follow @annalise_ellen on X.
This story originally appeared in San José Spotlight.
The post Silicon Valley college district to convert apartments into affordable student housing appeared first on Local News Matters.