The Hillsborough County School Board took the first step Tuesday night toward building subsidized housing for its own employees on the grounds of a school it closed two years ago.
Board members approved a land lease agreement that could allow 100 to 150 affordable housing units on unused property at the former McLane Middle School campus. McLane closed in 2024 because of low enrollment. District officials said the existing school buildings would not be affected, and only district employees would be allowed to live in the housing.
Westbury Commons, the developer, would design, finance, build, and operate the project. Earlier reporting by Bay News 9 said the vendor planned to pursue federal, state, and local grants to build the complex and would then offer reduced rents to school employees. District officials have described the target as middle-income workers who earn too much for federal assistance but still struggle with housing costs.
School Board Chair Nadia Combs said the cost of living in Hillsborough is so high that many teachers cannot afford to both work and live in the county. Board member Patti Rendon has called workforce housing a critical need.
The pitch comes less than two years after Hillsborough voters approved a school property tax increase. More than 65 percent backed the millage in November 2024, which was projected to raise $177 million a year. The board used it to fund $6,000 raises for teachers and $3,000 raises for support staff. Local reporting also showed the district began the school year with roughly 600 open teaching positions, which fell to 430 as hiring continued.
The scale of the project is small next to the stated need. Deputy Superintendent of Operations Chris Farkas told the board that an estimated 10,000 district employees would qualify for the housing. At 100 to 150 units, that works out to room for about 1 to 1.5 percent of eligible staff. Qualifying employees would presumably compete for those units.
The district has described Brandon as a pilot to test whether similar projects could work elsewhere in the county. The reporting reviewed for this story did not specify the lease terms, projected rents, the amount of public grant money being sought, or a construction timeline.
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