Officials at California State University, Long Beach recently announced their intent to purchase the property currently occupied by Brooks College for $11.1 million. The university plans to use the site to expand housing opportunities for students and faculty, as well as use its classrooms and computer laboratories to provide courses and other academic programs.
The university is expected to take over the operations of the 5-acre campus by June 2009.
“Increasing student living and learning opportunities is an important priority for our campus,” said CSULB President F. King Alexander in a press release. “Acquiring the five-acre site allows us to more immediately address this growing need while also providing greater flexibility to expand academic course offerings and programming.”
The executive board of the CSULB Foundation approved the purchase on Monday following the completion of the 120-day “due diligence” phase. During the phase, campus representatives and a team of professional advisors looked over the site and did a thorough assessment of its facilities.
Located at 4825 East Pacific Coast Highway, Brooks College is a for-profit fashion, design and technology school owned by the Career Education Corporation. Its lease ends two months after the college’s final graduation, which is set for March 2009.
“The purchase of this property is an economically viable transaction for Cal State Long Beach, and it makes sense,” said Bill Griffith, vice president of administration and finance for CSULB. “The site is about one mile from the campus; the university has students living there now and there is already a shuttle service that gets students to the campus. The site’s current primary use is housing, which is something the university has a need for.”
The site includes three residential/classroom/office buildings, which were built around 1964, with 177,000 total square feet, and includes a dining hall and a swimming pool.
There are currently 200 CSULB students living in the Brooks College facility and the current housing capacity is about 540 students. CSULB officials state that “with some modifications” to the current buildings, university officials plan on housing up to 700 students by the time CSULB takes over the property.
By taking over the Brooks College property and adding to current housing, Griffith claims that the total cost of the project will be less than one-third of that of a housing facility for 700 students.
The university’s office of Housing and Residential Life will operate the student dorms, food services will be operated by the 49er Shops, and university police will manage the property’s security.
