Metro Nashville Public Schools officials want to trade an 11-acre bus depot with a developer to build affordable housing for teachers.

The rough plan, approved recently by school board's budget committee, is backed by Mayor David Briley, according to his spokesman.

District officials don't yet have specifics, and are now in discussions with developers about how to structure the land swap.

“We’ve had quiet conversations for years about what to do to help teachers and school employees who are being priced out of the market,” school board member Will Pinkston said. “For us to come together on this as something worth exploring, that gives me hope we can find something feasible that’s attractive to teachers.”

Lack of affordable workforce housing

City leaders have long acknowledged the dwindling supply of available housing for teachers and other crucial sectors of the workforce, as housing costs have skyrocketed with the city's development boom.

Overall, wages have risen much more slowly than housing costs for years. In 2018, home prices jumped nearly 10 percent while wages increased less than 3 percent, according to federal data.

The homes would be designated "workforce housing," meaning potential tenants qualify if they make 60 percent to 120 percent of the area median income – which was $74,900 for a family of four in 2018.

Nashville public school teachers make between $43,363 and $76,066 a year, according to the district's current salary schedule.

Development partners sought

The MNPS transportation center, which is used for bus parking, repairs and offices, sits on a hill overlooking the city off Nolensville Pike in South Nashville at 336 Woodycrest Avenue.

School district officials hope a developer will build workforce housing there as well as a new bus center elsewhere, in exchange for the land.

"In return for this site, we would swap this land we currently have to the developer," Metro Nashville Public Schools construction director David Proffitt said. "We're reaching out to developers to determine their interest and to see if something like this is feasible."

In the next few weeks, those conversations will inform an official request-for-information proposal that will be released publicly to any interested developers.

This property was one of several at the center of Metro discussions in July about selling land to close a multi-million-dollar budget gap.

Councilman Colby Sledge initially suggested selling the bus center as an alternative, after Edgehill residents protested the proposed sale of the old Murrell School building at 1450 14th Ave S. and adjacent Edgehill Community Memorial Park, a popular gathering place.

At the time, school board members insisted that the bus depot couldn't be sold because it is critical to district transportation infrastructure.