Bidding War Brings Pierce College $1.15 Million for 3.3-Acre Parcel

A first-ever attempt to sell unused Pierce College land to private developers has paid off handsomely for cash-strapped college officials.

A Sherman Oaks builder has offered $1.15 million for a 3.3-acre corner of the Woodland Hills campus--nearly twice what the Los Angeles Community College District had hoped to get.

Developer Ted Neumann outbid nine other builders for the right to build a dozen luxury homes on the land at the southwest corner of Oxnard Street and Winnetka Avenue, officials said Wednesday.

Earlier appraisals had indicated that the land was worth about $600,000.

“The bid surprised us, too,” said David Czamanske, contract coordinator for the college district.

District officials said the windfall will be used to help defray a projected $12-million shortfall for the coming academic year. The district is operating on a $210-million budget this year, down 20% from five years ago.

The Oxnard Street property is one of four Pierce College parcels that have been declared surplus and ordered sold or leased by college district trustees. One of the sites was leased to a religious group last year.

District spokesman Norm Schneider said state law may require that the $1.15-million land sale profit be spread among all nine district campuses and spent for campus maintenance rather than for salaries or educational programs.

Pierce College President David Wolf said he has a long list of repairs needed at his sprawling, 375-acre campus if that turns out to be the case.

“Part of the library roof leaks, there’s a leak over the student center dance floor and our parking lot paving has reached the breaking point,” Wolf said.

Wolf said the high offer for the parcel suggests that half-million-dollar homes will be built on its 12 subdivided lots. Existing homes in the college neighborhood in the Chalk Hill area north of the Ventura Freeway have recently sold in the $200,000 range.

Nearby homeowner Bob Gross, vice president of the Woodland Hills Homeowners Organization, predicted Wednesday that “people here are going to be tickled pink” by the expensive new homes and their effect on local property values.

Neumann said he has tentatively planned 3,200-square-foot custom homes for the site. He said his company, Park Ambassador Homes, has built houses in Calabasas, Encino and Glendale.

“I felt the land was worth more than the others did,” he said of the sale, which attracted developers to the college district headquarters late Tuesday. “We will probably break ground in about a year.”

Officials said the college district’s board of trustees will be asked April 22 to approve the bid.