Fight On! USC's University Village Planning and Development Process Moves Forward

TPR did an interview with Brian League, the director of entitlements for USC, last March. He talked about the vision for the University Village site as a town center. How has that vision survived the entitlement process? What are USC's plans for the University Park and Health Sciences Campuses?

The vision for University Village that was articulated by Brian over a year ago is still very much intact. If anything, that vision has been supported and enhanced through the entitlement process. For the University Park Campus, in particular the area where University Village currently sits, we would like to create a vibrant environment for students, community, faculty, and staff to come together to live, learn, work, and play. For students, our goal is to meet their need for quality, affordable, and abundant student housing, as well as their need for a casual academic environment in which to eat, shop, and socialize. For the faculty, staff, and community, our goal is to provide the resources commonly found in university environments that are sorely lacking around USC-quality retail establishments, sit down restaurants, active outdoor spaces, and full service grocery and drug stores-that can serve as a central connecting point and resource for the university and the community.

For the Health Sciences Campus, we are undergoing a master planning process right now. That process kicked off officially in January of this year and should be complete by January 2011. Our primary goals are to improve the look, feel, and functionality of the Health Sciences Campus, for the university faculty, staff, and students, as well as the many patient visitors who visit the campus every year. The master plan will help to ensure that the aesthetics of the Health Sciences Campus reflect the high quality of the academic programs, patient care, and research located on that campus, while providing a framework for the addition of a substantial amount of new square footage to support the growing health sciences programs of the university.

Can you detail the University Park Campus Plan for our readers?

For the University Park Campus, we have divided the entire university-influenced area into six distinct districts. For the area that most people think of as the campus proper, we are proposing to add 1.5 million square feet of academic space over the next 20 years. In this area, we don't have an official date or even a goal for breaking ground because the timing of those buildings will depend upon our academic needs and the donor support we have for the buildings.

For the area the university owns east of the freeway, we are proposing to add an additional 500,000 square feet of space to relocate all non-academic uses off of the core campus to allow for the development of more academic buildings. The Capital Construction Department, Facilities Maintenance Services Department, and the IT Department have already successfully relocated the bulk of their operations from our core campus to that area.

The area that probably gets the most discussion is the land currently occupied by the University Village, directly north of the core campus. In this area, we plan to develop a mixed-use project with approximately 250,000-300,000 square feet of retail space, 2 million square feet of housing, and 250,000-300,000 square feet of academic space.

What did USC learn from the Draft EIR input process?

The Draft EIR for the project received about 120 comments. Many of the comments expressed concern about the type of retailers people would like to see in the Village. There were some concerns expressed about the historic neighborhoods in the area and the impact of the project on those areas. Additionally, comments discussed traffic impacts and the potential impact the project could have on low and moderate income housing in the surrounding neighborhoods. Unrelated to the formal CEQA process, we have heard quite a bit of support for the project from the community due to the large amount of housing the project is proposing to provide, as well as its efforts to address the lack of quality and sufficient retail services in the area.

TPR has done a number of articles over the past few years about what urban universities like Penn have done in the way of campus planning. Did USC draw inspiration from other urban universities to help draw its plans?

Absolutely. In contemplating the development, we extensively studied over 30 different universities. UPenn is a very good analogue for us. It is located in a very similar neighborhood, has basically the same student population size, and is competing with us for the same pool of high quality students and faculty. There are also many other universities that have concluded that, to meet the needs of their students and surrounding communities, they have to venture into retail and housing much more heavily than they have done in the past. We also looked at great streets around the country and in other countries to understand what portions, heights, and ratios of open space work best to create a vibrant and active street.

Who did USC rely upon to do the campus research and planning?

Our master architect for the Village project, Elkus Manfredi, did much of the research. They have a lot of experience designing university projects throughout the country. They won the Society of College and University Planning Honor Award for their graduate student housing at Harvard, which is why we considered them for our project. We have a considerable need for graduate student housing. Additionally, they have substantial experience creating well-known, successful retail streets, including local examples such as The Grove and The Americana.

USC's outreach began more than five years ago with a ULI charette. How much of that original thinking and brainstorming is still in the plan?

Most of the ULI conclusions are reflected in the plan. The one significant deviation from the ULI recommendation relates to the retail elements of the plan. The ULI had recommended moving the retail from the Village location to Vermont and not concentrating much retail in the University Village area, but at the time of the ULI charette USC was only contemplating including 80,000-90,000 square feet of retail space in the plan. The ULI group correctly advised that 80,000 square feet isn't enough retail to create a place. Instead of moving the retail to Vermont, we elected to expand the amount of retail in the area to create a mixed-use, amenity rich environment for the area.

What is the project phasing of these planned districts?

The development contemplated for the core campus and the area east of the Harbor Freeway will be phased as needs arise and as funds are available. In many ways the university is opportunistic. When a need arises or funds become available to meet an existing need, the university is able to respond accordingly. A donor or grant can truly stimulate a building that wasn't on the horizon for many years. In this regard, it is hard to predict today what the next building will be, how big it will be, or where it will be located. That is why the Specific Plan actually works well for us. It allows us the flexibility to entitle 1.5 million square feet of development rights on the core campus, without a specific phasing plan, which would be too speculative for us to commit to at this point.

The University Village parcel is different. We want to add quality and affordable housing for our students as soon as possible. We are working to have the project fully entitled by 2012 so we can commence construction, assuming we have funds available, as soon as possible.

There is a new president at USC, replacing President Sample. Have the vision, values, and ambitions of the university's new president affected the plans going forward?

Not at all. President C.L. Nikias was our provost during the entire Master Plan process, so he was heavily involved in creating the Master Plan. Since he has taken office as president of the university, he has helped us to better articulate a vision for the type of housing we want to create in the Village, emphasizing the need to provide housing for our graduate student population.

What, drawing from the plans, will the USC campus of 2020 be like?

Academically, USC continues to be a rising top-ranked private research institution. With the implementation of our master plans, our campuses will continue to augment the academic and research mission of our university by providing the road map for the successful development of our campuses.

USC has never been listed as a top-25 green campus. Is there anything in the plan for the University Village that will upgrade and make more sustainable USC's facilities?

The Board of Trustees passed a motion about a year ago requiring that all new buildings be designed for LEED Silver equivalency. For the Village development, we are designing for LEED Gold equivalency and, if possible, LEED Platinum. Many other initiatives are also in place to make the campus more sustainable. It is certainly our goal to become a much greener campus.

Let's close by asking about you. What attracted you to this urban campus development opportunity? What are your responsibilities? And what experiences have you brought to this sizable development challenge?

When I joined the University of Southern California, I had been a practicing real estate lawyer for 12 years. I was looking for a position that would enable me to get more involved in the business side of real estate and provide me with the opportunity to enhance my education. Since joining the university, I have obtained a masters in real estate development and a masters in construction management.

But what most attracted me to the university was the spirit and dedication of the Trojan family and the great mission that the university serves. It is one thing to work in the real estate market and to always be shooting for an IRR; it is another thing to enhance the academic experience of the future.