Simi Valley Schools Unveil Development Proposal

The Simi Valley Unified School District, in partnership with two private developers, unveiled a plan Wednesday to develop district-owned property across from the Civic Center that could generate as much as $39 million in revenue over the next 10 years.

The development proposal would require a zoning change of the 36-acre parcel to allow 26 acres to be used for commercial development, officials said. The remaining 10 acres would be set aside for residential development that would include affordable housing for senior citizens and teachers.

The project site is bounded by Tapo Canyon Road on the west, Avenida Simi on the north, Fairbanks Avenue on the east and Alamo Street on the south.

“We have the best piece of property in the whole community,” Supt. Robert Purvis said. “It appears if the community wants to develop it, everybody’s a winner.”

But the district has come before the City Council with other development proposals for the property before, only to have similar projects rejected outright because they were considered to be either too dense or inappropriate for the area. The project site is bordered on three sides by residential neighborhoods.

City officials said they want to see more details of the new proposal before taking a position.

“The real issue is the impact on residents,” Mayor Greg Stratton said. “My feeling is it’s the district’s job to sell it to the community.”

The City Council is scheduled to hear the district’s request for a zoning change at its meeting April 27. The property, which is now being leased for agricultural purposes, is zoned for single-family housing.

But representatives of Tustin-based CSA Real Estate Development and Los Angeles-based Lederer Development, the district’s partners in the project, said the district would generate a much greater amount of revenue if the zoning were changed to include some commercial space.

As now proposed, the development would include 196,020 square feet of commercial and retail space spread over 26 acres. The remaining 10 acres would include 10 to 15 single-family residences and slightly more than 100 affordable residences for senior citizens and teachers.

Marshall Krupp, president of CSA, said the development would generate an estimated $39 million for the district over the first 10 years, provided that the district decides to sell its property at the end of that period.

Krupp said if the district chooses not to sell the property, it would still receive about $29 million in revenue over the first 10-year period. He said the district’s projected annual profits after that time would be about $1 million.

In addition to creating about 435 permanent jobs, Krupp said the city would receive about $450,000 in annual sales tax revenue from the development and another $400,000 in redevelopment money that would be generated by property taxes. The school site is within the city’s redevelopment area.

Purvis said the district, the largest in the county with about 18,000 students, could use the additional revenue to pay for maintenance and repairs of the 27 campuses it now operates.

As with many other school districts, Simi Valley has had to make significant budget cuts in recent years and development of the property could provide some financial stability, school officials said.

District officials said the property was initially intended to be used for a third high school site, but because enrollment has stabilized, they do not foresee the need for another high school for at least 10 years.

Money generated from the development would also be used to build new science and computer labs in the high schools and new gymnasiums at the junior high campuses, Purvis said.

Purvis and the developers said they expect to meet some opposition because of the commercial portion of the project. City officials have repeatedly been criticized for allowing too much commercial development in the city when a large amount of commercial space remains vacant.

But the developers blamed the recession, poor planning and low-quality developments for the failure of other commercial developments in the city.

They said the school district’s site is in a prime area not only because it’s near the Civic Center but because there is little commercial development north of the Simi Valley Freeway.

In an effort to get comments from residents, the school district in October formed a citizens task force, which included 16 residents, to help design the proposal, said Aaron Starr, who headed the task force.

Starr said the group, which has already met with some residents in the area, is planning more meetings with neighbors of the project site to discuss their concerns.

“We’re very interested in keeping the impact on the neighborhood as low as possible,” Starr said.