2 Plans Meet Part of CSUN’s Goal

Building a large shopping center on Cal State Northridge land could generate between $1 million and $1.4 million each year--enough to build an enlarged football stadium but not much more, campus officials were told Monday.

The revenue estimates were part of proposals for the North Campus property presented at a public hearing by two developers, Brentwood-based Lowe Enterprises and Woodland Hills-based Voit Cos. They are among four finalists in the university’s competition to pick a developer for the little-used 65-acre property.

Both proposals could meet what CSUN Vice President of Student Affairs Ron Kopita said is the main objective: generating enough money to build a new football stadium on the property with at least 10,000 seats, double the current stadium’s size.

But neither would provide much additional guaranteed revenue that Kopita said CSUN also wants.

“Our hope is there will be income sufficient to do a stadium, but not just a stadium,” said Kopita, who oversees the university’s athletic and student affairs programs. As university officials evaluate the proposals, Kopita said they will be looking for extra revenue CSUN could spend for other, as-yet unspecified purposes.

The other two finalists, Woodland Hills businessman Mark Steele and Newport Beach-based Hopkins Real Estate Group, will present their proposals at a second public meeting on campus today. A campus development board is slated to select a recommended developer at its March 25 meeting.

Monday’s hearing produced the first public estimates of just how much money the university could expect from the property, which includes the former Devonshire Downs horse racetrack area.

Monday also produced the first sign of renewed public concern about the university’s plans. A representative from a nearby homeowners’ group complained the combined retail and stadium project could flood the area, which already suffers from students anxious to avoid university parking fees, with even more traffic and parking problems.

In a morning presentation, Lowe Enterprises, a major national developer, said its planned 19.5-acre shopping center along Devonshire Street between Lindley and Zelzah avenues would generate about $1 million a year for CSUN. That would be enough for a 10,000- to 15,000-seat stadium to the south along Lassen Street estimated to cost about $10 million.

In the afternoon session, Voit Cos., which built much of Warner Center in Woodland Hills, said its 33.5-acre shopping center in the same location would produce about $1.4 million annually for CSUN. The company proposed a new 7,000-seat stadium for about $6.5 million, which would provide excess revenue, but the plan is smaller than that sought by CSUN.

CSUN economics Professor Dan Blake, a member of the North Campus/University Park Development Corp. board that will recommend the final developer, said Lowe’s proposal provides slightly less up-front revenue but leaves more of the site available for future use, while Voit’s plan offers more initial revenue but would use up almost the entire site.

Lowe proposed a 197,000-square-foot shopping center in which about five major retailers would all front along Devonshire in a conventional array. Voit suggested a more circular 283,000-square-foot design that would include a market, drug store and movie complex. But some CSUN officials warned retailers might balk at their lack of visibility in that design.