Ocean View School District continues exploring development of vacant sites
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The Ocean View School District has taken the next step toward possibly introducing workforce housing at two closed school sites in Huntington Beach.
At Tuesday night’s board meeting, the trustees unanimously voted to approve due diligence and award exclusive negotiating opportunities for development at the Pleasant View and Sun View elementary school sites.
Board President Gina Clayton-Tarvin, Vice President Patricia Singer, clerk Keri Gorsage and trustee Jennifer Rank all voted to explore with developers for both sites. Trustee Morgan Westmoreland was absent.
The district reviewed 25 proposals for Pleasant View and Sun View, district Supt. Julianne Hoefer said in a presentation. In the end, the district will negotiate with Knighthall Capital and Tait and Associates, Inc. for the Pleasant View property, and AMCAL Multi-Housing, Inc. for the Sun View property.
The district maintains ownership of the land.
“I think it’s a really exciting opportunity,” Clayton-Tarvin said in an interview following the meeting, calling it a chance to make a massive positive impact on coastal Orange County. “I’ve never seen anything like this in the history of the Ocean View School District, and I’m not seeing anything like this anywhere around Orange County thus far.”
Each property could include workforce housing, expanded green space and community amenities. A preliminary proposal for Pleasant View, which closed in 1985, includes 152 single-family homes for purchase on a site of about 11 acres. The proposed site plan also includes two new community green spaces, in addition to the district’s existing pocket park.
A preliminary proposal for Sun View, which was shuttered in 2018, includes 312 multi-family homes for lease on a roughly 13-acre site, for multiple income levels. The proposed site plan also includes new community green space.
Neither project is considered high-density.
Current estimates show that the two developments combined could bring $1.5 million annually to Ocean View School District, Hoefer said in her presentation.
“Our goal is to explore productive uses for these sites, while remaining mindful of their compatibility with the surrounding communities,” Hoefer said.
The district, which has faced declining enrollment in recent years, has 25 sites, but only 13 are currently being used for school purposes, Clayton-Tarvin said.
In October 2025, the district board began a public discussion about the district’s vacant properties. In January, the board directed staff to initiate the bid process for both sites.
“I think that if these projects come to fruition, these potential redevelopment plans for Pleasant View and Sun View, they’re just going to enhance our community and make Huntington Beach even better than it already is,” Clayton-Tarvin said. “Hopefully, they’ll infuse young students into the community … One of the main concerns that we hear from our constituents and from the neighbors is that they don’t want these schools to fall into disrepair and create a community blight, like Park View had done.”
In 2022, the district demolished graffiti-riddled Park View School, and a ribbon cutting for Park View Park was held in the same space later that year.
The due diligence process includes looking at the impacts of traffic, neighborhood access and parking, field details, environmental review and financial terms. The earliest a joint-occupancy development agreement would return to the board for public discussion and potential action is 120 days.
