Nearly 600 apartments are proposed for school employees in West Hollywood and Woodland Hills. But the financing, monthly rents and rules for getting a home are not settled.
For a school employee trying to make Los Angeles rent fit a paycheck, a home closer to work could make a real difference. LAUSD is moving forward with plans for nearly 600 potential apartments, but employees still do not know what those homes would cost or exactly how they could qualify.
On Oct. 6, the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education selected development teams for two district-owned properties: one on North Fairfax Avenue in West Hollywood and another at the former Collins school site in Woodland Hills.
The vote moves both proposals into negotiations and further study. It does not approve construction or guarantee that every proposed apartment will be built.
A housing plan can sound promising long before a worker can apply, see a rent schedule or know whether the monthly cost fits a family budget. LAUSD Board Report
Two sites, years before move-in
At Fairfax Avenue, the selected team, West Hollywood Community Housing Corporation and Alpha Construction Company, proposes studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, along with community space, outdoor play areas and ground-floor commercial space.
LAUSD’s announcement describes 207 potential apartments at Fairfax. Its board report describes the proposal as approximately 200 units. The district estimates construction could begin in 2028 and finish in 2030.
At the Collins site in Woodland Hills, LAUSD selected Affirmed Housing Group and HA Builders Group. Their proposal calls for approximately 390 rental apartments, with construction anticipated to begin in 2029 and finish in 2031.
Together, the district describes the projects as 598 potential homes. The final designs, terms and unit counts could change as negotiations continue.
The plans respond to a problem employees have already raised. In a 2024 district survey, more than 6,000 of nearly 12,000 respondents expressed interest in affordable housing through LAUSD. The board report also says 46% of employee respondents had considered leaving their jobs because of high housing costs.
Those are survey findings, not a count of employees who will apply. But they help explain why the proposal matters to the district’s workforce.
The Fairfax loan question
One financing detail needs particular attention.
LAUSD’s board report describes a proposed $15 million City of West Hollywood loan as committed financing for the Fairfax development. Yet in reporting published Oct. 14, Beverly Press quoted city communications director Joshua Schare saying the city had made no funding commitment to projects submitted under LAUSD’s 2026 request for proposals and had allocated no city money for this purpose.
Any future funding request would require City Council consideration and approval.
The difference is important: the district’s description of the proposed financing does not establish that the city has committed the money to this selected project.
West Hollywood had considered a future loan commitment of up to $15 million for the Fairfax property during an earlier 2025 proposal process. The city now says that commitment no longer applies because LAUSD did not select a developer from that earlier request for proposals.
The current public record does not establish that the selected Fairfax project has secured a new city loan. It also does not establish that the project cannot proceed without one.
The developer’s proposed financing includes low-income housing tax credits and other public subsidies. The proposal also includes payments and annual ground rent to LAUSD, but those financial terms remain subject to negotiation.
What would employees pay?
This is the question prospective tenants may care about most, and the available documents do not yet answer it.
The proposals describe housing for households earning between 30% and 120% of area median income. That range can cover households with different earnings, depending on household size and the final program rules.
But an income range is not a rent schedule. LAUSD has not published final monthly rents by apartment size or affordability tier in the board report. The documents also do not establish the final number of apartments at each income level or the full costs tenants might face for utilities, parking and other charges.
Both proposals say apartments will be offered first to LAUSD employees, consistent with applicable state law. Potential residents could include teachers, nurses, custodians, instructional aides, food-service workers, administrative staff and other district employees.
The detailed eligibility and selection rules, however, remain under negotiation. Employees do not yet have a confirmed application date or a published process explaining how units would be allocated if more people qualify than apartments are available.
For workers weighing whether this could help them stay in Los Angeles, those missing details are not minor. They determine whether a proposed home is a realistic option.
You can read more about the broader challenge in California’s housing affordability gap and the way housing and other everyday costs pressure Latino households. LAUSD’s proposal is one local attempt to respond, but its impact will depend on what actually gets financed, built and offered at rents employees can afford.
The district plans to negotiate with both development teams, continue community engagement and conduct predevelopment work, including environmental, soil and design studies. Final development agreements and ground leases must return to the school board for consideration.
The proposed timelines put any move-in years away, even if the projects advance as planned.
For now, the district has taken a step toward using its property to create housing for the people who keep its schools running. Whether that becomes meaningful relief for employees will depend on the next decisions: securing workable financing, finalizing rents and eligibility rules, and moving from proposals to completed apartments.
Until those pieces are in place, nearly 600 potential homes are a significant plan, not a promise that 600 employees’ households will soon have a place to live.
