Oct. 14, 2021 – CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI) Site Authority has signed a long-term ground lease with global real estate investment company Kennedy Wilson to develop a 32-acre site within the campus’s University Glen residential community.
The development, located directly north of the existing University Glen neighborhood, will include 310 market-rate apartments, 109 for-sale homes, 170 income-restricted apartments for seniors, as well as community-serving amenities.
“We are thrilled to see the site’s redevelopment process begin, and to move ahead on a pioneering public-private partnership that will also generate a significant revenue stream to benefit our campus’s future growth for years to come, as well as provide housing options for our faculty, staff and other community members,” said CSUCI Interim President Richard Yao, Ph.D. “We value our partnership with Kennedy Wilson and their proven commitment to building and maintaining strong communities, and we look forward to working together to bring our shared vision to life.”
The agreement will generate more than $5 million in payments to the Site Authority during the initial development and homes sales phases of the project, and will provide an ongoing revenue stream from the market-rate and senior apartments over the full life of the leases, which will run through June 30, 2098.
“This development is an important step in our larger partnership with CSU Channel Islands and will meaningfully contribute to a community that is short on supply of high-quality apartments and homes for faculty, staff, and local residents,” said Kennedy Wilson Managing Director Nick Bridges, who structured the partnership with the University. “Many people are rethinking how and where they want to live, and we continue to see a trend of residents moving from city centers toward communities that have access to the outdoors, are commutable to major employment centers, and are relatively affordable.”
Kennedy Wilson has also committed $1.5 million toward the future construction of an Early Childhood Education center on the CSUCI campus to provide affordable, high-quality early childhood education to the community, local farmworker families, and student parents working to earn a college degree. At the same time, the center will serve as a training experience for students in the University’s School of Education.
“Affordable and accessible childcare and education is a critical need among both CSUCI students who are parents and among regional farm workers,” said Nichole Ipach, CSUCI’s Vice President for University Advancement. “Kennedy Wilson’s gift toward the construction of CSUCI’s future Early Childhood Education Center brings us one step closer to offering much needed childcare slots to Ventura County and an outstanding educational experience for our aspiring early childhood teachers.”
The California State University Channel Islands Site Authority was created to provide for the financing and support of the transition of the Camarillo Hospital site for use as a campus of the California State University. The area of east campus is ground-leased by the CSU to the Site Authority for the purposes of establishing a residential community to help facilitate the recruitment, retention and productivity of faculty and staff, and to generate funds for campus development.
The new residential project builds upon a seven-year partnership between Kennedy Wilson and CSUCI. Kennedy Wilson originally acquired an existing 386-unit apartment community, now called Mission Hills Apartments, as well as 15,000 square feet of retail from CSUCI in the adjacent University Glen neighborhood in 2016 and has since invested approximately $8 million to enhance unit interiors and the community’s amenities.
Work on the site is set to begin in early November.