By City of Phoenix
Phoenix City Council voted to enter into two purchase and sale agreements with local school districts to make 10 acres of land available for more affordable housing units.
The land will be purchased from the Isaac School District (4.56 acres for $3.1M) and the Alhambra School District (5.54 acres for $2.3M). In both cases, the City will then immediately sell the land for it to be developed into affordable, multifamily housing.
During the brief time Phoenix owns the property, the City will place a Land Use Restrictive Agreement that requires the properties to be used for affordable housing for a minimum of 40 years.
Under Arizona law, a school district may only sell or lease school property to the State of Arizona, a county, a city, another school district or a tribal government agency required for a public purpose if the sale or lease of the property will not affect the normal operations of a school within the district. The City’s brief involvement in the PSA is a streamlined way to sell underutilized school district land while also speeding up affordable housing development. There will be no financial impact on the City.
Under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s definition, “affordable housing” refers to housing that costs no more than 30% of a household’s gross income. In the cases of these two agreements, the developed units on the Wild Rose Flats project (land from the Isaac School District) and on the Salamanca Square project (land from the Alhambra School District) will be priced to meet that standard for households that make 80% or less of the area median income.
In total, the transactions will result in 72 affordable units at Wild Rose Flats and 192 affordable units on the Salamanca Square. Construction on the sites is expected to begin in 2026. (Source)