After years of uncertainty, the future of the former Washington School property in Midtown Ventura is becoming much clearer.
The Ventura Unified School District Board of Education has approved the sale of the former school site at 96 Macmillan Avenue to City Ventures for $8.325 million, with the potential for additional payments to the District in the future.
The property is expected to be redeveloped with housing.
While many details of the future project have yet to be determined, the sale gives us the clearest indication yet of what is coming to this longtime surplus school property.
City Ventures Plans Housing on the Property
City Ventures is a California homebuilder and developer that has agreed to purchase the Macmillan Avenue property from Ventura Unified.
Unlike the District's much larger $39 million sale of its Stanley Avenue headquarters, this is a more traditional real estate transaction.
Ventura Unified will receive $8.325 million for the property, with the possibility of additional future payments. The District will not own any of the homes eventually constructed at the Washington School site.
That distinction is important because the Stanley Avenue agreement calls for Ventura Unified to receive approximately 50 finished housing units as part of the purchase price. Those units will be owned by VUSD and used as workforce housing for teachers and other District employees.
That is not the arrangement at Washington School.
Could the Development Include Affordable Housing?
The District says City Ventures' plans could include affordable housing with priority given to Ventura Unified employees.
Unlike the District-owned units planned for Stanley Avenue, however, affordable homes at the Washington School property would be subject to the normal income qualifications associated with affordable housing programs.
There may also be another reason for City Ventures to incorporate affordable housing into the project: California's Density Bonus Law.
Developers that reserve a qualifying percentage of homes for lower-income households can potentially receive benefits under state law, including additional density, incentives and concessions, and waivers or reductions of certain development standards that would otherwise physically prevent the project from achieving the density or incentives allowed under the law.
Those provisions can give a developer considerably more flexibility when designing a project.
City Ventures has not yet announced the final development plan, so it is too early to know whether the company will ultimately pursue a density bonus or what percentage of the project could be designated affordable.
But given the potential benefits available under state law, an affordable component is something worth watching as plans for the property take shape.
How Many Homes Will Be Built?
That's one of the biggest questions that remains unanswered.
At this point, a final unit count and project design have not been announced.
We don't yet know exactly how many homes City Ventures will propose, what types of homes will be built, how the property will be laid out, or what the architecture will look like.
The sale of the property also does not mean construction can immediately begin.
Any future development will still need to proceed through the City of Ventura's planning and entitlement process.
That process should provide considerably more information about the project once City Ventures submits its plans to the City.
Why Was the Property Sold?
The Washington School property is one of several pieces of real estate Ventura Unified has evaluated as part of a years-long review of surplus District property.
A Board-appointed advisory group known as the "7-11 Committee" studied potential uses of District-owned real estate and gathered community input.
Ventura Unified subsequently issued a request for proposals for the Macmillan Avenue property in September 2025, ultimately resulting in the agreement with City Ventures.
The Washington School sale was approved alongside the District's much larger Stanley Avenue transaction. Together, the two agreements represent approximately $47.3 million in property sales.
What Happens Next?
The School Board's approval allows District officials to move forward with the purchase and sale agreement and complete the transaction.
The property still needs to get through escrow, and the sale remains subject to the terms and conditions of the agreement.
After that, the focus will shift to what City Ventures actually proposes to build.
Any future project will need to work its way through the City of Ventura's planning and entitlement process before construction can begin.
So while there are still significant questions about the number of homes, affordability, design and construction timeline, the larger question surrounding this property has finally been answered.
The former Washington School site is headed toward housing.
