|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Years after former Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian began spearheading the project, Palo Alto’s first teacher housing complex opened this summer at 231 Grant Ave. and is still accepting applications from teachers who work across the south Bay Area.
The 110-unit building, called The Acacia, offers a mix of studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments alongside community gathering spaces like offices and multiple courtyards.
Based on proximity and priority, there are 29 dedicated units for the Palo Alto Unified School District, 24 for the Los Altos School District, 12 for the Foothill-De Anza Community College District and 12 for the Mountain View Whisman School District. The building also offers 32 units for San Mateo County teachers in the Ravenswood and Menlo Park city school districts, Las Lomitas School District, Menlo-Atherton High School, TIDE Academy, East Palo Alto Academy and the Sequoia District Adult School.
“The properties are currently at approximately 50% occupancy, and we’re in the middle of actively leasing,” said Kelly Hollywood, associate director of Mercy Housing, one of the developers who helped build The Acacia.
In order to qualify for a unit, school employees must make between 60% and 140% of the area median income. Rent is dependent on the number of residents, the unit size and their total income but ranges from approximately $1,800 to $3,100 per month.
Each unit is equipped with a full kitchen, bathroom and living area. The studio and one-bedroom units are 376 and 535 square feet, respectively, and do not come with washer/dryer hookups. Instead, there are laundry rooms on the second, third and fourth floors.
The two-bedroom units are 814 square feet, offering laundry hookups and slightly bigger living rooms.
All apartments come with a parking spot, organized by “parking stackers,” an elevator system used to store cars more efficiently. First-floor units offer an outdoor patio space.
Outside of the living spaces, there are three large courtyards on the second floor – one equipped with barbeque pits and meant to be more social, another with a playground, active space and a dog-run, and a third is a “passive” courtyard, which will serve as a more relaxing space with gardening plots.
There is also a retail space on the ground floor that does not yet have a merchant occupying it, Hollywood said.
“The building is beautiful,” she said. “We have put a lot of time and energy trying to design spaces that are both beautiful and connecting to the sense of home.”
State education representatives called the project unique, said California Department of Education representative Richard Barrera in a past interview with this publication, for its cross-county collaboration and diverse funding methods, including school districts, the city of Palo Alto and the tech company Meta, which pitched in $25 million for south San Mateo County school districts.
In order to apply, educators can call Mercy Housing at 650-606-5725, email 231grant@mercyhousing.org or visit their website at acacia.liveinhope.org.
Recall effort fails against Mountain View school board member Devon ConleyDecember 19, 2025 12:34 pm
Mountain View switches farmers market back-up location due to downtown lot closureDecember 16, 2025 2:09 pm
Castro Street transit project will end vehicle traffic at Caltrain tracks in Mountain ViewDecember 3, 2025 2:26 pm