College May Disqualify Bids on Developing Land

Five bidders submitted proposals this week to develop 240 acres of agricultural land at Pierce College, offering proposals ranging from golf driving ranges to a farm for medicinal plants.

The field, however, may be rapidly narrowed. Two of the bids presented to the Los Angeles Community College District did not include the required $250,000 deposit and may be disqualified, said Blair Sillers, the assistant to the district chancellor.

Such an elimination would leave three proposals from well-known local developers--all of which involve golf courses and driving ranges. The district may disqualify one of these bidders as well, Sillers said, if it determines that the bid would not generate income to the cash-starved college of at least $800,000 annually for 20 years.

The Pierce committee plans to meet Monday to rank the three remaining proposals before sending its recommendation to the college president.

At the earliest, the plan could be voted on at the trustees’ Dec. 16 meeting.

The 240 acres at issue are bounded by Victory Boulevard on the north, the southern edge of the Pierce campus, De Soto Avenue on the west and Stadium Way on the east.