Land swap with Apple could create homes for school staff in Cupertino

Apple is poised to swap land with Santa Clara County, which aims to use the property to build affordable housing for local teachers and school employees in Cupertino.

The proposed deal would have the Cupertino-based tech giant give the county 5 vacant acres it owns at 10333 North Wolfe Road in Cupertino, the San Jose Mercury News reported. 

In return, the county would give Apple 1.5 vacant acres it owns at 10591 North De Anza Boulevard, the site of a former Outback Steakhouse across the street from its corporate hub.

The county’s Board of Supervisors is set to vote on the deal on March 14.

If approved, the county plans to build workforce housing for between 75 to 100 teachers and staff on a third of its new site, south of Interstate 280 and the Apple Park campus.

The county aims to fill the rest of the lot with more low-income, affordable homes. The city is required by state law to plan for an additional 4,588 new housing units by 2031.

The idea was hatched by Supervisor Joe Simitian, who has heard tales of teachers commuting long distances or living doubled-up in tiny apartments because they can’t afford housing near the schools where they teach.

“You listen to these stories and you think, ‘My God, there’s got to be an answer,” Simitian said. “There’s got to be a solution. And there is.”

The project, which has yet to secure funding, also could open the door for more affordable housing in Cupertino, where the housing shortage is acute and the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $3,140, according to Apartment List. 

It would be built next to the defunct Vallco Mall that is being turned into a 2,400-unit housing, retail and office development. 

Apple, which in 2019 pledged to contribute $2.5 billion in investments, donations and real estate to help combat the affordable housing crisis, declined to comment on the Cupertino land swap.

Even though securing a site for the teacher housing project would be a major step, it could be several years before educators and school staff move in. The county still has to secure funds for the project, which is an increasingly difficult task as interest rates rise.

The proposal comes as concern for teacher housing is mounting throughout the Bay Area. 

Teachers and school employees often fall into the “missing middle” — people who make too much money to qualify for traditional affordable housing, but not enough to afford a pricey home in the Bay Area.

The median market rent in Santa Clara County is $2,348, but Santa Clara Unified offers a starting salary of $73,103. That means an entry-level teacher would need to make $500 more each month to afford the rent, according to a 2022 study by the UC Berkeley Terner Center for Housing Innovation.

A four-unit below-market-rate development for teachers opened in Los Gatos. Simitian hopes to break ground this spring on a 110-unit teacher housing development in Palo Alto. The Mountain View Whisman school board is building a 144-unit teacher housing development set to open in 2024.

— Dana Bartholomew