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Date: 04.07.2009
Publication: Business Wire
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (April 7, 2009) The Santa Clara Unified School District today announced the opening of the second-phase of Casa del Maestro, the Districts award-winning workforce housing community, in a ribbon-cutting event held at 3455 Lochinvar Avenue in Santa Clara. The event was attended by the Hon. Patricia M. Mahan, Mayor of Santa Clara, Steve Stavis, superintendent of SCUSD, and other local dignitaries.
Phase II of Casa del Maestro, Spanish for "house of the teacher," adds 30 additional employee-dedicated residences to the 40 units already in place in the community. All 30 units have already been allocated to teachers in the district and a further 31 staff are on the waiting list. The size and layouts of the residences in Phase II include 18 one-bedroom units ranging in size from 702-787 square feet; six one-bedroom plus den units ranging from 829-1029 square feet; and six two-bedroom, two-bath units totaling 1122 square feet. Rents range from $980 per month for a one-bedroom unit to $1400 per month for a two-bedroom which is about 50 percent less than similar quality market-rate units in Santa Clara County.
Like Phase I, the project was a public private partnership between the district and Education Housing Partners, a non-profit corporation and affiliate of Mill Valley, Calif.-based developer Thompson | Dorfman Partners, LLC. Thompson | Dorfman Partners, LLC provided complete design/build contracting services at cost for the development. The property was designed by Irvine, Calif.-based KTGY Group and construction was completed ahead of schedule and under budget by Segue Construction of Pleasanton.
Phase II includes several "green" features designed to save water and energy. These include low-flow kitchen and bathroom amenities such as showerheads, faucets and lavatories, water-efficient landscaping with drought-resistant foliage and energy-saving fluorescent exterior lighting. The development also deployed bioswales designed to remove silt and pollutants from surface runoff water.
In an effort to curb attrition of young faculty from the District, the Santa Clara Unified School District engaged Thompson | Dorfman Partners, LLC in 2001 to build 40 affordable apartments on surplus school property. High housing costs in the area had increased the attrition rate of teachers by 300 percent in the five years prior to this venture and estimates suggest it cost the District upwards of $50,000 just to train new teachers. In order to maximize the affordability of the units, the District structured an innovative tax-exempt financing instrument, which also allowed the project to be built and operated at no cost to taxpayers.
"Phase I of Casa Del Maestro has proved to be a very successful investment in our districts overall infrastructure and has played a major part in our retention of talented teachers. Phase II is just as popular and, combined, the two phases house more than 70 teachers and their families with a waiting list of at least 30 more. We are happy that we can provide this benefit as well as our mortgage assistance program to teaching staff throughout the district," said Roger Barnes, Business Manager, Santa Clara Unified School District.
Since the completion of the $6 million, 40-unit first phase of Casa del Maestro in 2002, the attrition rate for young teachers living in the community has been less than one-third of that for the District's teachers with similar tenure not receiving this benefit. Additional study results show that due to the significantly reduced rental rates at Casa del Maestro, residents have been able to save for down payments and buy homes in the area with the aid of the District's Teacher Mortgage Assistance Program, or TMAP. To date, approximately one quarter of residents of the first phase have gone on to buy a home in the district through the TMAP program.
"Casa del Maestro is a prime example of a self sustaining community -- environmentally, socially and also economically. Because of the financing structure no district funds were used for the improvements and the rents cover operating costs, reserves and debt service. Even with a softening residential market home prices and rental rates are still well beyond what most starting teachers can afford in metropolitan areas in California so this type of workforce housing is as vital as ever," said Bruce Dorfman, co-founder, Thompson | Dorfman Partners, LLC. Dorfman added that he believes despite budget restraints, many school districts around the state and the country still have the capacity to follow Santa Clara's lead.
About Thompson | Dorfman Partners, LLC:
Thompson | Dorfman Partners, LLC is a real estate development and investment company. Formed in 1999 by Will Thompson and Bruce Dorfman, Thompson | Dorfman focuses on multi-family residential development, with particular emphasis on well-sited, urban infill and mixed-use properties located in high growth, technology-driven markets in California. The principals of Thompson | Dorfman have more than 25 years experience in the industry and Thompson | Dorfman have collectively developed 10,000 multi-family homes in 40 California apartment and condominium communities. In 2004 they formed Education Housing Partners, a non-profit corporation, in order to facilitate school districts and public agencies to build workforce housing for their employees. For more information, please visit www.thompsondorfman.com.
About Santa Clara Unified School District
Santa Clara Unified School District is in the heart of Silicon Valley and includes most of the City of Santa Clara, part of north San Jose and the eastern portion of the City of Sunnyvale. SCUSD includes grades kindergarten through twelfth grade and has an award winning adult education program as well as a strong preschool and day care component. The district educates 14,250 students and has a teaching force of 775 teachers. For more information about SCUSD, go to www.santaclarausd.org.
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