Marin County board hears detailed update on Oak Hill educator‑housing plan and environmental cleanup

Trustees were given an extensive briefing on the Oak Hill Apartments workforce‑housing project, a planned 135‑unit development on roughly eight acres of state land intended to house TK–12 public school employees across Marin County. Presenters said the project targets rents at 50–80% of area median income to improve educator recruitment and retention and described a financing plan that relies primarily on bonds alongside $24 million‑plus in state and county grants.

"We are targeting 50 to 80% AMI rent levels," the presenter said, describing the affordability bands that staff and consultants view as essential to avoid high vacancy rates. The board heard that the financing approach now under consideration would have the County of Marin serve as an umbrella guarantor for the bond series to secure lower borrowing costs and offer a mechanism for districts to transfer units to the county if they are unable to fill them. Presenters said they had increased the model vacancy assumption from 4% to 5% and set capital maintenance reserves at $500 per unit, with an initial construction contingency estimated at about $4.5 million.

Discussion with board members focused on risk and mitigation: a proposed $1.5 million stabilization reserve and an option to commit roughly $8.5 million of MCOE reserves were described as conservative measures to provide multiple years of runway if occupancy fell short of projections. A staff presenter said the guarantor design would delay school obligations until units achieve beneficial use, meaning schools would not assume construction or development risk until occupancy began.

Environmental cleanup and state oversight were central to trustees' questions. Bruce Orfmann of Education Housing Partners explained that the site had been investigated as a former shooting range and that the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) is managing sampling and will oversee any remediation. "We took off all the bad soil, then we move everything else," he said, describing grid sampling and removal plans focused on lead fragments in the top one to two feet of soil and off‑site disposal of contaminated material. Presenters repeatedly said they would not break ground until the state provided a clean sign‑off and the project budget remained balanced.

The presentation was informational; trustees did not vote on project approvals tonight. Staff said legal documents and any formal JPA actions would return to the board in the spring for consideration.