SJ school district eyes demolition of former youth center to prepare for teacher housing

ONE EAST SAN JOSE school district is ready to move forward on much needed workforce housing and will remove a past icon in the process.

Alum Rock Union School District plans to construct 78 homes on three acres of a 23-acre site at a cost of $60 million, after voters agreed to change the language in an existing bond measure in November 2022. The approval allows the district to use $71.5 million to build affordable housing for teachers and other employees. Adjacent to the site sits the former Mexican American Community Services Agency (MACSA), which has been vacant for more than 10 years. The district has slated it for demolition, but advocates are trying to save the approximately 30,000-square-foot building.