Potential Long-Term CSU Tenant Pulls Out

In an early setback to efforts to push Ventura County’s fledgling Cal State campus toward economic self-sufficiency, the owner of a Camarillo software company has pulled out of negotiations to become the university’s first long-term tenant.

Michael Edell, president and chief executive officer of jeTECH Data Systems, said Wednesday that he has been unable to reach agreement on a lease with university officials and no longer is considering shifting part of his operation to the developing campus.

Cal State officials said they are disappointed in the turn of events, but that they have been working with a host of other companies that are closing in on leases at the campus proposed for the former Camarillo State Hospital complex.

“We certainly regret losing him as a potential client,” CSU project manager Noel Grogan said. “However, we are actively seeking tenants for that building, which we believe is the best office space available on the property.”

With his software company growing by an average of nine employees a month, Edell had hoped to lease a 30,000-square-foot building on the 630-acre property to absorb his expanding work force.

Although lawmakers have earmarked $16.5 million to convert the shuttered mental hospital into the new home of the Ventura campus of Cal State Northridge, the CSU governing board has made it clear that the only way the center will grow is by generating the money to pay its own way.

Toward that end, CSU planners have launched an aggressive leasing program and are crafting a range of other moneymaking ventures to help turn the off-campus center into a full-fledged university--to be called Cal State Channel Islands.

Edell said he was eager to be part of that process; he had signed a month-to-month rental agreement in May and moved 15 to 20 of his employees to the site. He also had erected several jeTECH signs on the campus and had sunk $25,000 to $30,000 into improving the building.

The 15-year-old Camarillo company develops computer software designed to manage such employee information as labor and production records.

Edell said he ultimately had hoped to house as many as 100 of his employees at the campus. And he also had intended to tap the most talented students for his work force, offering internships and seminars on campus.

But after eight months of negotiations, Edell said it became clear that he would not be able to cut a deal with Cal State officials.

“We were raring to go, but we just couldn’t come to terms,” said Edell, unwilling to elaborate on the sticking points in the deal. “We are very disappointed that it didn’t work out.”

So are Cal State officials.

They have been trying for months to land their first long-term tenant, hoping to touch off a stampede of business people interested in leasing space at the site. But they are quick to point out that there are plenty of potential tenants waiting in the wings, and they think it is only a matter of time before the first lease is signed.

“I think this is a huge opportunity for someone else to step in and get a great deal,” said Steve Doll, vice president of Capital Commercial Real Estate, which is helping track down tenants for the campus.

Doll said office space at the campus is being leased for $1 a square foot. But he said that price is being reduced to 50 cents a square foot in some buildings, as the campus develops.

Doll said even the maximum rate compares favorably to other office buildings.

“Compared to a year ago, what may have been pie in the sky to most is now looking like a reality,” he said. “Eventually there are going to be a lot of companies that are going to want to be out there.”