July 19, 2017 — The CSU Board of Trustees has given final approval to the next phase of the CI 2025 Vision Plan during the CSU Board of Trustees meeting held this week, giving a green light to development of 32 acres of the University Glen residential community on the CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) campus.
“This is another step in an effort to expand the campus to accommodate our enrollment growth over the coming years,” said Assistant Vice President for Facilities Services John Gormley. “We are completing the final phase of residential development in University Glen that has been sitting idle for nine years because of the economic downturn.”
The development will include 54 detached single-family homes and 66 townhomes for sale, as well as 310 market rate apartments. There will also be 170 senior living apartments for people who are 55-years old and above and who meet a specific median income level. The senior apartments will be rentals.
“This housing mix is consistent with the built portion of the community and the residents are supportive, especially of the senior housing piece, and will benefit everyone,” Gormley said. “It encourages senior tenants to become more connected with the University and provide more stability.”
Because the land is leased to the CSUCI Site Authority by the CSU, the development will be able to offer housing to potential faculty and staff with financial incentives to make it more affordable to purchase a home.
“This will create housing opportunities in an expensive housing market,” Gormley said. “Faculty and staff who choose to relocate here and work on campus will have an opportunity to purchase a home.”
This development also provides much-needed revenue for the University to support the anticipated rapid growth. CSUCI’s student population is expected to continue to increase and the generated revenue will support the construction of much needed academic facilities.
CSUCI’s Vice President for Business & Financial Affairs Ysabel Trinidad, said “With this project, the Site Authority is in a much stronger position to fulfill its intended purpose – to generate a cash flow to help support the University. As with the prior public/private partnership, we are also able to reduce additional debt carried by the Site Authority.”
“We are also extremely happy to enhance our partnership with Kennedy Wilson on this second project. This partnership will leverage our existing relationship with KW which, in turn, will benefit all members of our residential community,” said Trinidad.
Site Authority Chair Jim Considine, who has been involved with the University Glen development since its inception, said evolution of the plans for the 32-acre site was truly the result of a team effort of residents, the CSUCI campus, community members and the CSUCI Site Authority.
Considine said team input optimized the potential of this final development, making the best use of the land while maintaining the sense of place the University Glen residents enjoy.
“There’s something about being there,” Considine said. “There’s a tranquility with its own kind of feel and identity. I think we were able to preserve that as we put the plan together.”
Current University Glen residents will benefit from the next phase, too, Considine said, beyond the added value to their homes based on the completion of the entire community.
“It’s going to provide some more services. We’re going to expand pools and hopefully add fitness centers and the like,” he said. “The concept there is that we maintain the same feel and look. I didn’t want to have something that looked like a Phase II. It should all tie together and be one development.”
There have been numerous meetings with residents of University Glen who voiced their concerns about the project.
“There were some things that needed to be corrected and I believe we’ve listened well and to the extent that we could, we have addressed the residents’ concerns,” Considine said, adding that residents brought up some excellent points during public meetings.
In the end, he and CSUCI believe the majority of residents are happy with plans for the next phase of development, as evidenced by a letter written by University Glen resident Miriam Olson. Ms. Olson sent it to be included in the record for the CSU Board of Trustees during this week’s meetings.
It reads, in part: “Each stakeholder group had to make concessions, yet all concerns were heard and addressed,” Olson wrote. “I am hopeful that as the project moves forward, the safety and cohesive nature of the community will continue to be a top priority.”
Construction will be done by global real estate company Kennedy Wilson and they expect to break ground on the project in the next year.