Pasadena Unified School District wants to build 110 below-market rental units for its teachers and staff on the former Roosevelt Elementary School campus at 315 N. Pasadena Ave. The district pitched the plan at a drop-in open house Tuesday, Sept. 22, at Brookside Golf Club.

More than 120 district employees lost their homes in the Eaton Fire, according to the district. That figure, cited by Superintendent Elizabeth Blanco at a July 2025 open house, underscores the urgency behind the project.

The 5.3-acre Roosevelt campus, which closed in 2020, would be demolished to make way for 80 apartments and 30 townhomes arranged in eight buildings around a central garden, Pasadena Now reported, citing a city staff report reviewed at an Aug. 11 Design Commission preliminary consultation. A 5,024-square-foot community center and 223 parking spaces are also planned.

Half the 110 units would be deed-restricted as affordable for income-qualifying employees. The remaining 55 would be unrestricted but still rented below market rate. The district's project page says all units are open to employee households earning up to 120% of Area Median Income (AMI), with a smaller tier of 30% reserved for households earning up to 80% of AMI.

The bedroom mix: 31% one-bedroom and 44% two-bedroom. The rest are 19% three-bedroom and 6% four-bedroom. The buildings will use a Spanish Revival style with stucco, clay tile roofs and arched openings, selected by a committee of district staff and community members.

PUSD issued a design-build solicitation in May with an estimated construction cost of $82 million to $85 million, to be funded by Measure O and Measure R bonds, Pasadena Now reported.

The district is using state Assembly Bill 2295 (AB 2295), which lets school districts build housing on their own land without a rezoning process. That streamlining could cut the approval timeline from more than two years to about six months, the district's project page says. The 110 units would also count toward Pasadena's state-mandated housing target of more than 9,000 units.

Construction is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2027 and take about 24 months, with units potentially ready by the third quarter of 2029, according to the project page.

The project still needs a consolidated design review from the Pasadena Design Commission, anticipated in the fourth quarter of 2026, plus building permits. City planning staff praised the project's scale as compatible with nearby low-rise housing but flagged concerns about surface parking near Pasadena Avenue, pedestrian access and the fate of 19 protected trees proposed for removal out of 95 on the site.

The Pasadena City Council voted unanimously in June, 2025 to deny landmark status for the school buildings dating to 1953, clearing a path for demolition.

All rental revenue would support maintenance and repair of other school facilities, the district said. This is the district's first housing project.