The proposal to build an affordable housing development for BUSD employees took two more steps forward Wednesday night.
The Board chose possibly developable land at two BUSD-owned properties – the Berkeley Adult School and West Campus – as the two sites to be evaluated for their employee housing potential, and it also authorized the District to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) to conduct a preliminary study of the proposal with findings to be delivered by Oct. 15 this year.
BUSD Executive Director of Facilities John Calise and Board Director Julie Sinai have taken the lead in consultations with Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin, City staff and the community group BeHOME (Berkeley Housing Opportunities for Municipal Employees) in collaborating on a potential development.
Director Sinai noted that the City’s Housing Advisory Commission on April 6 unanimously recommended $150,000 in City funding for BUSD, which the District has requested for planning and pre-development.
The proposed funding is expected to go before the Council on April 30 with the $150,000 allocation to be taken from the receipts of Berkeley’s 2016 Measure U1, a business tax increase on owners of rental properties of five or more units to increase funding for affordable housing and programs to address homelessness.
More details about the proposal can be found in the agenda report and attachments for item 14 in the online agenda packet for the April 10 meeting. The oral presentations and Board discussion may be accessed on the YouTube video of the meeting beginning at 1:31:07.
