Joint Project by CSUN and Developer Unravels

A landmark partnership between Cal State Northridge and a private developer to build $200 million in commercial and campus improvements on 100 acres of university-owned land has been killed, the victim of an ailing economy, school officials said Wednesday.

The end of the project is seen as a major blow to the Northridge campus, which had hoped to tap into private funds for an ambitious expansion but now faces a struggle to maintain its current academic programs because of looming state budget cuts.

CSUN and Watt Industries Inc. had joined forces in 1987 to create University Park--a sprawling complex that was to include 360,000 square feet of office space, a 225-room hotel, a 20,000-seat athletic stadium, restaurants and campus theaters.

Under the arrangement, Watt Industries agreed to lease state-owned university land, build the project and share a portion of the rent from future tenants with the university. The school had planned to use its share of the money to pay for improvements that it otherwise could not afford.

Dissolution of the partnership--which was to have been the largest such venture in the history of the 20-campus Cal State University system--was announced in a brief written statement by associate Vice President Bill Chatham in response to inquiries from The Times.

“This regrettable, but amiable, parting creates an opportunity for us to review the timing and implementation of the project and other options for financing,” Chatham said. “At this state, we are not reissuing rebids.”

Chatham said Watt Industries withdrew from the partnership on June 5 “due to the state of the economy.”

Jim Wadsworth, president of Watt Industries, said he would not comment on the reason his company pulled out of the deal.