Non-Profit Firm Opens Teacher Housing

A Mill Valley developer debuted a large complex of affordable housing today for teachers and staff of the San Mateo County Community College District.

The Cañada Vista project, built by Education Housing Partners, a non-profit affiliate of Mill Valley-based Thompson Dorfman Partners, consists of 60 apartments that will be rented for approximately half of the current market rate for similar units in the area. It was built on the site of a former 2.75-acre parking lot.

"By providing housing for our employees, we have a competitive advantage over other colleges in the area who are competing with us to hire talented faculty and staff," said Barbara Christensen, director of community and government relations for the district, which is comprised of Cañada College, College of San Mateo and Skyline College.

This is the second faculty and staff housing development Education Housing Partners has built for the district. The first, College Vista, was built on the College of San Mateo campus and opened in December 2005. College Vista was California's first workforce housing project undertaken by a community college district.

"The goal with Cañada Vista and College Vista was to create quality, affordable rental housing for San Mateo County's community college faculty and staff in one of the most expensive residential markets in the state," said Bruce Dorfman, a principal at Thompson Dorfman. "Long term, this type of housing supports education and the community, and validates the concept of quality infill development."

Thompson Dorfman Partners primarily focuses on luxury residential developments. Dorfman and Will Thompson founded the company in 1999, and launched Education Housing Partners in 2004 to build workforce housing for employees of school districts and public agencies.

The firm had proposed a much smaller but similar project on Forrest St. in Mill Valley three years ago, but it received considerable neighborhood opposition and was shelved, Dorfman said. The plan called for four residential rental townhouse units for faculty to be built on an office parking lot the firm owns, but drew resistance on concerns about tree removal, neighborhood impact, inordinate rezoning and a lack of public involvement.

"It's the type of project that people in Mill Valley need to consider because it's ridiculously expensive for teachers to afford to live here," Dorfman said.