Maple High Site Eyed for 200 Units of Workforce Housing
Lompoc Unified is negotiating a 200-unit workforce housing project on the Maple High property in Vandenberg Village. Here's what's decided — and what isn't.
One of the more consequential local stories of the summer is moving quietly through negotiation rooms: Lompoc Unified School District is continuing talks over a proposed 200-unit workforce housing development on the 11.12-acre district property in Vandenberg Village that is currently home to Maple High School.
What we know
As of August 18, the district was still in negotiations with a developer entity, Space Valley Housing Partners, with the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Barbara also connected to the effort. The stated purpose is educator and workforce housing — homes priced so that the people who work in Lompoc, starting with the people who teach in Lompoc, can actually afford to live here.
The site is the district-owned parcel in Vandenberg Village where Maple High School currently operates. At 200 units on just over 11 acres, this would be a substantial project for that side of town.
What's not decided yet
A lot. Negotiations are ongoing and nothing is final — no approved site plan, no construction timeline, and no announced answer on what the arrangement means for Maple High School's future at that location. Until the district and the developer reach terms, this remains a proposal, not a project.
Why it matters
Anyone who has watched Lompoc schools work to recruit and keep teachers knows the housing math is a big part of the problem. When educators can't afford to live in the community they serve, they commute — and eventually, many take jobs closer to home. Workforce housing on district land is one of the few levers a school district can actually pull, and other California districts have started pulling it.
There's a broader angle too: 200 households on the north side would mean more customers for Vandenberg Village shops and more neighbors in the community — the kind of growth the businesses in our local directory feel directly. You can see how the Village area fits into the rest of town on our Lompoc map.
What happens next
The honest answer: we wait for the negotiations to conclude. We'll follow the story as the district makes decisions public, and we'll keep the "what this means for Lompoc" lens on it the whole way.
Logo: Lompoc Unified School District.
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