Manatt represented California State University San Marcos Corporation, an arm of California State University San Marcos (CSUSM), in connection with the negotiation of a public-private partnership (P3) arrangement to develop an extended learning facility for the university. The developer owns land adjacent to the campus, on which the parties constructed a building with retail on the lower floors, to be owned by the developer, and classroom and educational space on the upper levels, to be owned by the university. The division of ownership was accomplished by the establishment of a condominium regime. This transaction, valued at approximately $70 million, represents a first of its kind for the California State University system, is the first P3 for the development of an academic building in California and resulted in the construction of the largest building on the CSUSM campus. The extended learning building is connected to the main campus by a pedestrian bridge over Barham Drive. The transaction facilitated completion of the project at a savings of approximately 20% and was completed years earlier than would have been possible by means of conventional on-campus construction.
The Extended Learning Building is CSUSM’s first P3 venture with developer University Villages San Marcos and will be a part of the larger University District Specific Plan/North City Development that is underway now. The project consists of a 135,000-square-foot building and will provide space for classrooms, a laboratory, faculty, and administrative offices for Extended Learning and its subsidiary departments, Global Education, American Language and Culture Institute, and International Programs, as well as a 709-stall parking structure.
The Manatt team advising CSUSM was led by Manatt real estate partners Steve Edwards, Timi Hallem and Grace Winters, and included real estate attorneys Jordan Tessier and Linda Rangel.
This project was awarded the 2020 National Award of Merit in the Educational Facilities category during the Design-Build Institute of America’s 2020 National Annual Conference. Learn more about this recognition here.