FAQ: Brucker Site Redevelopment

We’ve seen a lot of questions from the comments received in the most recent survey. To help everyone better understand how we got to this point, we’ve assembled this FAQ. For more detailed reporting and commentary, please see our special page on this at http://www.uhsd.org/edcenter

• Q: What’s going on with the Brucker site at 4100 Normal Street?

  A: San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) is of moving their headquarters staff to a new site in Kearny Mesa by the end of 2025 and now plans to redevelop the 13.48-acre Brucker site into 500 affordable housing units for District teachers and staff. SDUSD has engaged with the University Heights community for over 7 years to create a site plan designed by the District’s architect, AVRP Studios. The AVRP Site Plan fulfills the goals of SDUSD, employee unions, and the community.

• Q: Who owns the Brucker site at 4100 Normal Street?

  A: San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) owns the Brucker site and plans to retain ownership of the site after it is redeveloped.

• Q: Why is SDUSD redeveloping the Brucker site now?

  A: The Brucker site is one of five sites identified throughout the San Diego Unified School District to help address the region’s affordable housing crisis. SDUSD is committed to providing affordable workforce housing for 10% of its staff over the next decade and will work with private developers to build 1,500 affordable homes on five of its own parcels for District teachers and staff.

  Ballard Center:  235
  Brucker Center: 500
  Central Elementary School: 270
  Commercial Street: 101
  Instructional Media Center: 81
  Livia (completed): 53
  Revere Center: 90            
  TOTAL AFFORDABLE UNITS: 1,330

• Q: When will SDUSD redevelop the Brucker site?

  A: SDUSD issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) on April 1, 2025, to build workforce housing on five sites identified throughout San Diego Unified School District. Proposals are due August 26, 2025, and the Board of Education will decide which proposals, if any, to accept at their meeting in December 2025. If this schedule holds true and a proposal is accepted, construction would not begin until 2026 at the earliest.

• Q: What does the SDUSD RFP for affordable workforce housing include?

  A: The RFP for all 5 sites includes these objectives: development of affordable housing for District staff; additional revenue sources through ground rent and other revenue sharing; conformance to local zoning and land use; inclusion of at least one District use; and adequate on‐site parking to prevent negative impacts on the surrounding community. The following objectives apply specifically to the Brucker site: Improvements to existing Birney Elementary, which may include drop‐off, pick‐up parking area and other improvements to integrate the Elementary School with the residential development. Plan historical preservation and rehabilitation for Annex 1 and 2.

• Q: What land uses are allowed on the Brucker site?

  A: The City of San Diego zoning code and Uptown Community Plan allow mixed uses on the Brucker site, including up to 500 residential units and a maximum height of 40 feet. The SDUSD RFP states that “Any proposed use must be legally permissible under local land use code, be well integrated with local land uses, and consistent with the community plan.” The recent update to the Uptown Community Plan, called the Hillcrest Focused Amendment, allows for much more height and density in areas south of Washington St., not the Brucker site.

• Q: Who will approve plans for redeveloping the Brucker site?

  A: In San Diego, both the City and SDUSD have a role in approving land use for school district sites. Since SDUSD plans to propose land uses for the Brucker site that conform to City of San Diego zoning and the Uptown Community Plan, only staff (or ministerial) review and approval will be required. No additional reviews by planning groups or the public are required.

• Q: What is the AVRP Site Plan?

  A: The AVRP Site Plan was created by the SDUSD architect, AVRP Studios, after 7 years of engagement with hundreds of University Heights residents. In addition to providing 500 affordable housing units for District teachers and staff, the AVRP Site Plan includes onsite parking, preservation and rehabilitation of Annexes 1 & 2, preservation of the 2 large heritage trees, open space, pedestrian paths, a plaza in front of Annex 1, an amphitheater behind Annex 1, and a dog park. While the AVRP Site Plan does not fulfill all the community's needs and wishes, it is a good compromise. Not supporting it leaves our community wide open to much denser plans with little or no parking, and fewer community amenities.

• Q: Why doesn’t the AVRP Site Plan include more open space, a bigger dog park, a library, etc.?

  A: San Diego Unified School District is not responsible for providing residents with community amenities like parks and open space, a dog park, or library. The City of San Diego is 100% responsible for providing these kinds of infrastructure improvements to the residents of San Diego. While the amenities proposed on the Brucker site are a direct benefit to the future residents, they will be open to the community.

• Q: We don’t need any more development in University Heights. Why can’t the site just be left the way it is or developed into a park?

  A: The Board of Trustees would be violating their fiduciary responsibilities if they didn’t utilize the land for educational or workforce housing purposes. In that event the State could deem the land surplus and auction it off without any community input.

• Q: There is a housing crisis in San Diego so 500 units is not enough. Why not make affordable units available to everyone, not just District teachers and staff?

  A: The City of San Diego is responsible for fulfilling RHNA goals for affordable housing throughout the City, not the San Diego Unified School District. That said, SDUSD plans to build almost 5 times as many affordable housing units on just the Brucker site compared to what the City has built in the area over the last 5 years. (Source: City of San Diego Affordable Housing Dashboard).

• Q: Wouldn’t it make more sense to build really tall buildings on the Brucker site to increase the amount of park and open space?

  A: Not from an economic perspective. According to the District’s architect, AVRP Studios, it costs approximately double to build anything over five stories.

• Q: Will underground parking be provided in the Brucker site redevelopment?

  A: SDUSD has promised to provide “adequate onsite parking” on the Brucker site. However, they do not plan to build parking underground as it costs more than double to build parking spaces underground than above ground. The design proposed in the AVRP Site Plan is known as a "Texas Wrap" where the central parking structure is surrounded, or "wrapped," by residential units to visually screen it.