Rosemary Biswas has lived with her two children at McClellan Terrace Apartments in Cupertino since 2023. The aging building comes with lower rent, a godsend in a region considered one of the most expensive in the nation.
The single mom and 93 other families will likely be forced to move by June 2026, so Foothill-De Anza Community College District can convert the apartments into 332 affordable student beds at 7918 McClellan Road — even though Biswas is a De Anza College student transferring in the fall.
“We moved here thinking we would complete my son’s high school, so it was a surprise and it was disappointing because then the worry set in, like what are we going to do?” she told San José Spotlight. “Where are we going to move?”
The Cupertino City Council voted 3-2 Tuesday to have staff study ways to prevent the $65.6 million sale and conversion of Prometheus Real Estate Group’s property, to encourage the community college district to build affordable housing on campus or use a hotel for temporary affordable stays instead. Councilmembers Sheila Mohan and J.R. Fruen voted no. The impending July sale has ignited a dispute between Cupertino and the college district in a city with no affordable student housing and limited reasonably-priced apartments.
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Mayor Liang Chao is concerned about the conversion displacing approximately 60 children who live in the complex and attend or will attend Cupertino schools. She said when voters approved Measure G — an $898 million bond measure passed in 2020 to be partially used for affordable student housing — many didn’t envision displacing Cupertino residents. She added the community college district has not met the city at the table.
“The district let the time pass and failed to plan for new housing in the past five years,” Chao said at the meeting. “We are losing naturally affordable housing with this kind of conversion. The district has failed to engage the stakeholders before they make decisions.”
The community college district’s board of trustees unanimously approved pursuing the purchase on Monday, seeing it as the best option to quickly help housing-insecure students. The district will pay for existing residents’ relocation costs in collaboration with Prometheus, which a spokesperson said will incentivize “McClellan Terrace residents to consider relocation options at one of our other Cupertino properties.”
Board President Peter Landsberger said affordable student housing has taken years because the community college district had to thoroughly consider all options, including new construction. He said the district doesn’t have much land to build on and converting a hotel would be difficult because there are no kitchens in the rooms. De Anza College’s campus sits on 112 acres.
Landsberger said the district was ready to discuss the sale with the city despite not being legally obligated to, but there was miscommunication.
“We’re dealing with the division of scarce resources here, and you know, we completely understand the frustration of the current residents, particularly those who’ve been in the facility for a very long time,” he told San José Spotlight. “That’s why we’re adamant about treating them fairly and respectfully and ensuring that they’ve got ample notice.”
The council discussed imposing a temporary ban on converting existing multifamily housing into student housing within a half-mile radius of De Anza College, but took no action.
Fruen said the sale is the best-case scenario for a difficult situation with the inevitable sale. He said if the college deal falls through residents could be left without moving help. Fruen added the city’s lack of housing exacerbates the issue.
“We’ve created this problem through four to five decades of obstruction of new housing construction in the city,” he told San José Spotlight. “They’re helping to solve our problem, not the other way around.”
The issue has divided residents and students who both need affordable housing in well-heeled Cupertino. The city’s rent is approximately 92% higher than the national average at $3,550 a month compared to $1,850, according to Zillow.
Jacob Kau, a first-year De Anza College student studying data science, said his first priority when he enrolled was finding affordable housing. He doesn’t have a car, and needs housing close to campus so he can walk or bike since the area has limited public transportation. He couldn’t find affordable housing in the city and is scraping by.
“Being a full-time student and taking a part-time job is very hard, so I’m trying to juggle with work, life and sustaining myself,” Kau told San José Spotlight.
Biswas said she understands the need for affordable student housing as someone seeking a business degree. But she wants the district to find a solution that doesn’t displace her and her children, leaving them scrambling for housing after the toll of divorce.
“This is the first time that they’ve felt at home and we’ve settled in (since the divorce),” she told San José Spotlight. “I just kinda feel bad to disrupt that whole thing again because it’s been emotionally a lot for all of us.”
Contact Annalise Freimarck at [email protected] or follow @annalise_ellen on X.
