The San Francisco school board is looking to get into the affordable housing business to help teachers and other district employees who might not otherwise be able to afford to live in the city.
For years, the district has sat on a largely vacant lot at 1950 Mission St., a piece of blighted property in the Mission District.
The land is valued at upward of $9 million, and leasing the property to a market-rate housing developer could yield $300,000 to $500,000 in annual revenue for city schools, district officials said.
But in the late spring at a committee meeting, a majority on the school board balked at a proposal by Superintendent Carlos Garcia to lease the land and use the cash to build a housing fund that would support mortgage down payments or rent payments for teachers and district employees.
Instead, the board directed staff to pursue affordable housing on the site, working with public and nonprofit agencies to find the money to build it.
"It is public land," said board member Sandra Fewer. "So the question is, should the public land be given over to private developers?"
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