Construction is kicking off for the future homes of local school district teachers and employees.

The Santa Barbara Unified School District and the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Barbara broke ground on Wednesday for the 106-unit project in the Goleta Valley at the corner of San Marcos Road and San Simeon Drive, next to El Camino Elementary School.

“At the end of the day, it is great teachers and staff that build great schools,” Santa Barbara Unified School District Superintendent Hilda Maldonado said. “In Santa Barbara Unified, we believe that our great teachers and our great staff deserve beautiful housing, and they deserve to live and work in the community that they serve.”

All 106 units on the 3.65-acre property will be income-restricted for households at or below 80% of the area median income.

Priority housing will go to Santa Barbara school district employees, and employees in other school districts will receive housing as a secondary priority. Eight units also will be reserved for veterans, and there will be one manager’s unit.

“When our talented teachers and our staff are forced to move further away, our students lose the stability and continuity that they need to thrive,” Maldonado said. “This is a vital extension of our strategy — a tangible investment in the long-term strength of Santa Barbara Unified and our entire region.”

About 1,300 trees were removed from the site, and 250 have been replanted so far, with more than 100 others planned for this fall and beyond, according to Ed Zuchelli, chief of communications for the Santa Barbara Unified School District.

The trees removed for construction will get a second life. Some of them are going through a two-year milling process and then will be used in Santa Barbara Unified woodshop classes. Additionally, some of the acorns taken from the old trees will be replanted to grow new trees at other school sites, according to Maldonado.

The groundbreaking has been a dream for years of past and present school district employees and board members.

In 2021, the school board agreed to sell the 24-acre property to a private developer, Red Tail, for $17 million, on the condition that a portion of it be returned for affordable staff housing.

In June, the district bought back the site for $7.4 million. The developer financed the entire purchase price, meaning no money left the district at closing.

Santa Barbara County Second District Supervisor Laura Capps recalled having to agree to sell the property back when she was on the school board and the creativity that was needed to make this project happen.

“Our school employees every day are on that freeway, and that means they arrive to work and their jobs are all the more harder,” Capps said. “And they’re the ones that need to be creative every day. They’re the ones whose creativity is shaping our future, not just those kids’ futures, but all of our futures and the future of Santa Barbara County every single day.”

Last year, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors approved a $1.1 million loan to developer Red Tail to help jump-start the permitting and construction process.

The district also earned about $60 million in private and federal funding to support construction costs.

The Housing Authority of the County of Santa Barbara will manage the building. The district will own the land, but not the buildings, for 99 years.

Bernie Baggarly, a spokesman for the county Housing Authority, said the project was born out of a desire to find a solution to the housing crisis.

“This project is especially meaningful because it grew out of a challenge that so many communities like ours are facing,” Baggarly said. “Santa Barbara Unified recognized that too many of the people who educate, support and inspire our students simply can’t afford to live in the community they serve.”

Assemblyman Gregg Hart said the county, school district and Housing Authority are on the cutting edge when it comes to delivering unique housing projects.

“The housing affordability problem that California feels, that we feel incredibly acutely here in Santa Barbara County, is not unique to Santa Barbara or California,” Hart said. “It is truly a national problem, and so we need all the creativity of everybody that’s working together, and our community is one of those special places where people really do know how to work collaboratively together.” 

Construction is expected to last for three years.