Brucker Ed Center Site: Proposal Advancing to Board Vote on Wednesday December 10
The SDUSD Board of Trustees will consider advancing to negotiations on a redevelopment proposal for the 4100 Normal Street site at the Wednesday December 10 meeting (4:30pm in the auditorium at the Brucker Education Center, 4100 Normal Street - Agenda Item #8).
This is the next step in the redevelopment process follows over 8 years of community dialog and meetings. The proposal being recommended is from Affirmed Housing and was the highest-rated of 4 proposals considered by a selection committee consisting of school district employees, teachers, and Marc Johnson who represented the Community Coalition of University Height (CCUH).
The proposal from Affirmed Housing consists of:
952 units of multi-family, affordable for-rent housing and resident amenities with a 1:1 onsite above grade parking structure for residents; 143 Studios, 523 one bedroom, 235 two bedroom, 42 three bedroom plus 9 manager units within the four phases.
A mix of affordable workforce housing AMIs (Area Median Income) of 30% to 100%.
Proposal to incorporate the vision from the community integrating existing Annex 1 and 2 into the project and preserving the “heritage trees”.
Community space to include a public plaza for visiting with neighbors and hosting events such as farmers markets and entertainment, plus recreational amenities for the community which are near Birney Elementary school for the community to enjoy and a childcare center.
A brief summary of all 4 proposals for the Brucker site written by Marc is available here. The full proposals are also available at the SDUSD website:
What does this mean for UH?
While the Affirmed Housing proposal was the highest rated by the selection committee, it contains problems that concern CCUH.
In comparing the Affirmed Housing proposal to the AVRP Site Plan which was supported by 77% of the community (April 2025 survey), one of the biggest issues is the number of units which is double the number promised to our community since 2019 and double the number of units recommended by two District consultants, AVRP Studios and LeSar Development Consultants.
At a workshop in December 2024, LeSar recommended a total of 1,500 workforce housing units across 7 sites districtwide. With the units already completed at Livia and Central Elementary School, the proposals for the 5 new sites will bring that total to over 2,000 units. Of the 491 units over the initial goal of 1,500, almost all (443) are proposed for the Brucker site.
What are the next steps?
The vote on Wednesday will be to consider the Affirmed Housing proposal to advance to the next step, which the School district’s agenda states “The District, at this time, is not committing to undertake the Project. While the proposal sets forth a framework for development, all necessary discretionary actions to approve, deny, or condition the Project remain with the District, including the authority to adopt any mitigation measures or alternatives necessary to avoid or substantially lessen environmental impacts.“
This means that the district will negotiate specific terms, conditions, and requirements with Affirmed Housing to ultimately come to a final proposal that will come back to the School board for a final vote.
CCUH will oppose Item H.8 and request that the following elements that the community supported from the most recent survey be included in the term sheet for the Brucker site:
A maximum of 500 housing units
Scale and massing of buildings that protects the historic integrity of Annex 1, the site, and the surrounding neighborhood
Step down in building height from Normal Street toward Annex 1, with up to 70 feet along Normal Street and up to 40 feet along Campus Avenue
Addition of a preservation architect to the project
Increased pedestrian circulation especially from north to south
Plaza in front of Annex 1
Amphitheater behind Annex 1
Close collaboration with representatives of the CCUH to ensure that that the revised site plan fulfills community goals
What can you do?
Public comment will be heard during the meeting, and UH residents are encouraged to attend wearing red shirts and let the elected Board Trustees know their views on this critically important development that will have a significant impact on UH. Register to leave public comment: