The Portfolio
Three apartment complexes, one contract, one facility type.
The San Mateo County Colleges Educational Housing Corporation — a 501(c)(3) auxiliary of the community college district — owns and operates 134 housing units across three apartment complexes, each on a college campus. The program offers rents 60–65% below market to district employees who are first-time homebuyers, capped at a five-year occupancy term, to help them save toward a down payment.
The properties are College Vista (44 units, College of San Mateo, opened 2005), Cañada Vista (60 units, Cañada College, Redwood City, opened 2011), and College Ridge (30 units, Skyline College, San Bruno, opened 2022). All three are conventional multifamily — no scattered sites, no mixed building types. As of November 2025 they were running 93–98% occupied with a waitlist of 317 district employees, so the manager never markets a unit. The district sets rents, assigns tenants, and collects rent through payroll deduction.
Complexity Flags
Three things that make this bid turn on something other than price.
⚠The fee isn't a percentage — it's a flat per-door rate
Forget percentage-of-rents. Compensation is a flat per-unit, per-month management fee (134 × $___ × 12) plus a maintenance hourly rate — not a percentage of collections. The district sets rents, assigns tenants, and collects through payroll deduction, so the fee is pure management compensation. Price the per-unit number defensibly and itemize every additional fee, because anything not disclosed in the proposal can't be charged later.
⚠A broad litigation and regulatory disclosure tied to award
The RFP demands a full five-year disclosure of every claim, lawsuit, arbitration, mediation, and regulatory or licensing action related to property management — including matters brought by clients you've managed for. It's explicitly weighed in assessing your suitability, and non-disclosure is grounds for disqualification or voiding the contract. Any firm with recent disputes must surface and frame them carefully.
⚠On-site resident managers are dual-employed
Each property has an on-site resident manager who is a district employee for their full-time job but the property manager's hourly employee for the on-site role — handling cleanliness, minor maintenance, and showings, but not leasing, contracting, or rent collection. You carry their payroll, taxes, and workers' comp administration even though the wage is reimbursed as a property expense. It's an unusual structure that signals program fluency if you address it directly.
Bottom Line
A clean, well-scoped contract — if you have the references.
Strong Bid · Low–Moderate difficulty
This fits a residential firm with institutional or below-market/restricted-occupancy experience. The portfolio is small and concentrated, the district handles the highest-friction work, and there's no prevailing wage, living wage, or non-standard insurance. But it's a rebid against a much larger incumbent (BLVD Residential, ~6,500–11,000 units) that has run these buildings since 2021 at high occupancy. With Past Experience worth 35% of the score, the bid lives or dies on workforce/institutional case studies with reachable references — not on shaving the fee. The newer, partially reconstituted board gives a credible challenger a fair hearing.
Portfolio Map
Three campuses within roughly 15 miles, all in San Mateo County.
Below-market employee housing
College Vista
44 unitsBelow-market
3403 & 3405 CSM Drive, San Mateo · College of San Mateo campus · opened 2005 · includes clubhouse. 97% occupied (Nov 2025); roof replacement project recently completed.
Cañada Vista
60 unitsBelow-market
1 & 2 Olive Court, Redwood City · Cañada College campus · opened 2011 · includes clubhouse. 98% occupied (Nov 2025); largest of the three.
College Ridge
30 unitsBelow-market
10 & 12 Miraluna Drive, San Bruno · Skyline College campus · opened 2022 · newest property. 93% occupied (Nov 2025).
Key Dates
A tight ~3.5-week window from release to deadline.
| Date | Milestone | Status |
|---|
| May 22, 2026 | RFP issued / advertised | Issued |
| Jun 9, 2026 · 2:00 PM | Questions (RFIs) deadline | Hard |
| Jun 12, 2026 | Final addendum issued (if any) | Upcoming |
| Jun 17, 2026 · 2:00 PM | Proposal submission deadline | Deadline |
| Jun 18–25, 2026 | Proposal review | Upcoming |
| Week of Jun 29, 2026 | Interviews (optional) | Upcoming |
| TBD | Board interviews & approval | TBD |
| Aug 1, 2026 | Contract start | Upcoming |
Watch the window. Questions close June 9 — eight days before submission. Restricted-occupancy case studies, sample financial reports, and reference contacts should be assembled in week one. Contract starts August 1, about six weeks after the deadline, so transition from the incumbent is tight but workable for a portfolio this size.
Scoring Strategy
Best-value, 100 points — and weighted toward experience, not price.
| Criterion | What it covers | Points |
|---|
| Cover Letter / Description of Services | Authorized signature, 60-day validity, availability | 10 |
| Firm Information | Structure, history, and the 5-year claims & legal disclosure | 20 |
| Past Experience / References | Up to 10 contracts, 2+ restricted-occupancy case studies, sample reports | 35 |
| Project Team | Named key personnel, resumes, day-to-day contact | 10 |
| Billing Rate | Per-unit fee + maintenance hourly rate + itemized fees | 20 |
| Interviews (if conducted) | Optional 30-min interview, up to 3 firms | 5 |
| Total | | 100 |
Lead with experience depth, not price. Past Experience at 35% is the single heaviest factor; Billing Rate is only 20%. There are no LBE, SBE, or local preference points, so the win comes from credible restricted-occupancy and public-agency references — and from pricing the fee defensibly, not undercutting it.
Who Should Bid
A narrow but clear ideal-bidder profile.
Bid if you manage below-market employee, workforce, or institutional housing for a public agency, college system, or nonprofit board — and can produce two case studies with reachable references plus sample monthly and annual financial statements. A local Bay Area maintenance and vendor network helps.
Pass if your portfolio is conventional market-rate multifamily with no institutional or restricted-occupancy reference, or you have no Bay Area presence. With Past Experience at 35% and a much larger incumbent defending the contract, a firm without the right references is bidding uphill.
