Santa Barbara Unified, Housing Authority Break Ground on Affordable Housing Project for District Staff

On Wednesday afternoon, the searing summer sun beat down over a large stretch of cleared land at the northeast corner of San Marcos Road and San Simeon Drive in the Eastern Goleta Valley. Tractors dotted the site, golden ceremonial shovels stood in mounds of dirt, and community leaders gathered beneath a canopy to mark the beginning of a long-awaited project. 

The Housing Authority of the County of Santa Barbara (HASBARCO) and the Santa Barbara Unified School District welcomed local, state, and federal officials to celebrate the groundbreaking of the San Simeon Oaks Village, the first affordable housing project the school board has approved for district staff.

“We’re here today to celebrate what’s next and turn over a little dirt,” Bernie Baggarly, HASBARCO’s training and public information coordinator said. 

The project, nearly five years in the making, grew out of Santa Barbara’s worsening affordability crisis and a unanimous desire to provide homes for school district employees, veterans, and other low-income residents. Bob Havlicek, HASBARCO Chief Executive Officer, applauded how the collaboration between the district and the school board has made the process pretty seamless. 

Construction financing closed in June, allowing work to begin on the approximately $60 million project, which combines public and private funding. Assemblymember Gregg Hart called the project “an incredible achievement” and expressed deep gratitude for the steadfast efforts of everyone who helped bring it to fruition.

“Things don’t get done without partnership,” said HASBARCO Director of Development John Polanskey, crediting the collaboration between the Housing Authority, the school district, and Red Tail Multifamily Land Development. 

The project will include five residential buildings with 106 apartments. Of those, 105 will be affordable rental units and one will serve as an on-site manager’s unit. All are being built with a shared goal: to provide affordable, accessible housing for those who quietly and continuously shape the community’s future.

“We want to give teachers better access to their jobs,” Santa Barbara County Supervisor Laura Capps said. “They’ve shaped us; they’re shaping our kids, and therefore our futures. We need to ensure their capabilities are being appreciated” 

For that reason, 97 of the 105 apartments will be prioritized for non-management district employees and the second priority will be given to other local school districts, charter schools, and nonprofit organizations.

The construction site sits on a 24-acre property in the Eastern Goleta Valley that was once lined with sycamore, eucalyptus, and oak trees. And just as partners planned the development, they also worked to ensure those trees would continue serving the community in new ways.

S.B. Unified Superintendent Dr. Hilda Maldonado said repurposing the trees was a top priority during the planning process. By working with Campus Canopy, the removed trees will be made into lumber and woodworking materials, while new trees and saplings will be planted at local schools to bring additional shade to the area.

“I hope that eventually that wood can be made into benches for our schools,” she said. 

Santa Barbara is considered the third most difficult county for first-time homebuyers, Maldonado said, and the region’s housing affordability crisis has only just worsened over the years. 

“We all know there’s an affordability crisis. It doesn’t need to be explained — we can see it in our community; we can feel it,” Capps said.

But in situations like these, “crisis requires creativity,” she said.

The development will include 51 one-bedroom, 26 two-bedroom, and 29 three-bedroom apartments. Eight units will support formerly homeless veterans through VASH (Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing) vouchers, while residents will also have access to shared spaces and services designed to help build long-term stability and community.

Amisha DeYoung-Dominguez, district representative for Rep. Salud Carbajal, reflected on her experience growing up with a father who was a teacher and expressed gratitude for the persistence of those who worked to create housing for the community’s unsung heroes. Partners all agreed that it was unfair that teachers could work in the area but not afford to live there — they are hopeful this development will change things. 

As congratulations wrapped up, community leaders and officials lined up behind the ceremonial shovels gleaming in the sun. In a synchronized fashion, they plunged their shovels into the earth and flung dirty up into the sky — and with that, the ground was officially broken.

Construction is expected to be completed by July 2028. When finished, San Simeon Oaks Village will be one of the largest affordable workforce housing developments for school employees in California, providing homes for educators, veterans and other low-income residents in Santa Barbara County.

Editor’s Note: Amisha DeYoung-Dominguez’s father was a school teacher, not her mother as reported in an earlier version of this story.