For nearly 40 years, the Lawrence M. Parma School at 915 E. Montecito St. in Santa Barbara has sat empty. 

Now, plans to turn the Eastside site into housing are moving forward thanks to a partnership with the City of Santa Barbara, the Santa Barbara Unified School District and the Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara. 

On Tuesday, the Santa Barbara Finance Committee approved a $1 million loan to help develop the site into 30 units for school district employees. 

“This is the type of project that we want to see,” Councilwoman Wendy Santamaria said. 

She said she was glad to see the city partnering with the school district to ensure housing for the people who keep schools going. 

“We have so many of our teachers and educators and other education staff that just cannot live anywhere near the schools that they are serving and the children they’re educating,” Santamaria said.

She said she was also happy to see the empty lot revitalized. 

The site was home to the Lawrence M. Parma School before it closed in 1989. 

The development will be a three- and four-story apartment building with a mix of 10 one-bedroom units, 12 two-bedroom units, eight three-bedroom units and a community space for residents.

The project is designed for low-income families, with designated units for those making 30% of the area median income, 50% of the area median income and 60% of the area median income, according to the city staff report.

Councilwoman Meagan Harmon said she’s looking forward to seeing the housing development when she drives past to go to the Trader Joe’s across the street.

“It’s just such a wonderful thing, and so many people will be served through this,” Harmon said.

Councilman Eric Friedman said he was happy to see a mix in the number of bedrooms, as many affordability projects don’t offer multiple bedrooms, making it harder to live in for families.

“To be able to have that flexibility here, that is deed restricted, will go a long way to have the diversity of the community that we want to serve,” Friedman said. 

As a condition of the city’s loan, the development has to maintain these affordability restrictions for 90 years, expiring in 2116.

The loan includes a 30-year term with a 3% interest rate. 

Money from the loan comes from the HOME Entitlement and Program Income funds reserved from prior years. The city had $353,543 left over from program year 2024, $507,453 from 2025 and $139,003 from 2026.

The city receives the HOME Entitlement and Program Income funds annually and is allowed to set funds aside to support larger projects, according to Caroline Paine, the city’s Housing and Homeless Services manager.

The project is going through the permitting process right now, and the school district hopes to have more information about the project timeline soon, according to Santa Barbara Unified spokesman Ed Zuchelli.