Lanterman CPP Campus South History

Current and Possible Future Usage

Current Use

 

 

 

On July 1, 2015, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona’s president, Soraya M. Coley, announced in a letter, “that the transfer of jurisdiction to the California State University has been completed [...] yesterday, our staff installed a sign at the Pomona Boulevard entrance for ‘Cal Poly Pomona / Campus South.’” The transfer involved the land formerly known for over eighty years, up until it’s closing in 2015, as the Lanterman Developmental Center.  Governor Jerry Brown stated that, “the transfer depended on the Cal State University system acknowledging it would not be allocated additional state funds for the operation, maintenance or development of the 302-acre property [...] the university must accommodate other state agencies, such as the California Highway Patrol, on a portion of the property”.
 

While the university waited for the historic preservation review to be completed, it began to advertise the property on the Cal Poly Pomona Foundation website and on RSI Location’s website.  Cal Poly Pomona’s advertisement is as follows: “Cal Poly Pomona Campus South is the site of the former Lanterman Developmental Center, a hospital and rehabilitative center that was home to almost 14,000 residents over its 87 years of existence. The site is approximately 300 acres of land comprised of a hospital, institutional housing, agricultural land, a single-family neighborhood, craftsman-style houses, and various California historical homes. The property also includes secure roads, industrial buildings, basements, food preparation facilities, warehouses, a power plant, workshops, recreational facilities, an elementary school, and a nine-acre rustic camp.   On behalf of the university, Cal Poly Pomona Foundation, Inc. is working with RSI Locations, Inc. to use this unique and long-awaited property as a location for the entertainment production industry. It is within the 30 mile zone and offers many different types of environments for filming needs, including warehouse space for set construction and long-term staging.”
 

Currently, advertising has been extremely successful because “CPP is currently receiving revenue from the Lanterman site, totaling close to $1 million annually, from use as a filming location. At this time, these funds are repaying CPP for infrastructure investments it previously made in the site and ongoing maintenance.”   


Cal Poly Pomona Campus South will remain a filming location until any further plans can be made.  “A Final Historic Resource Assessment Report for Lanterman Developmental Center was completed for the California Department of Developmental Services (DDS) in February 2016. According to the report, Lanterman’s period of significance stretches from 1927-1969. Four buildings are individually eligible to receive a historical designation, along with a Pacific State Hospital Historic District totaling 93 buildings and landscaping.”  Announcements regarding the future of the Lanterman/Cal Poly Pomona Campus South should be released in 2017.  

 

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Possible Future Use

 

In October 2016, the Urban Land Institute of Los Angeles and Orange/Inland Empire published “A ULI Advisory Services Technical Assistance Panel Report Cal Poly Pomona Lanterman Site.”  This 40-page report included an executive summary, area description, strategic objectives, economic and policy considerations, and implementation.  


Currently one of the issues in consideration of the future of the property has been the City of Pomona.  “Use of the Lanterman site has been a point of discussion between CPP and the City of Pomona. The City of Pomona believed Lanterman to be under its land-use jurisdiction and included it in an economic development plan 10 years ago when updating its General Plan. The site was intended for ‘general retail.’ After significant protest from CPP and California’s Department of Development Services, the City of Pomona revised its documents to reflect that Lanterman was state property and therefore under state jurisdiction. More recently, however, the City of Pomona once again proposed to include Lanterman in its plans, this time to provide homeless housing. CPP made clear that the City did not have appropriate jurisdiction to do so, and the plans are being reconsidered.”  Currently, despite the issues arising with the City of Pomona, the ULI TAP has recommended seven strategies towards approaching the site.  

 

Strategies for Lanterman/Cal Poly Pomona South Campus - ULI TAP Recommendations

 

Strategies Diagram 
 
Strategies Diagram.jpg

Technical Assistance Panel Diagram Legend:

   

Housing:

Due to the high demand in housing and rise in housing costs, housing for staff and students would be extremely beneficial to the university.  Housing types could include townhomes, single family homes, rental, student housing, and retirement housing.  The proposal for housing is that, “working with 70 acres of new housing development, the TAP found that the area could yield 315 row townhomes, 210 cluster single family homes, and 210 student flats—totaling 1,295 new units. Utilizing 50 acres of land could yield 225 row townhomes, 150 cluster single family homes, and 550 student flats—totaling 925 new units. With this mix, the university would provide 50 percent of new homes as ownership housing to faculty and staff, and 50 percent as unsubsidized rental housing for students, faculty, and staff.”

 

Retail:
One of the things that Cal Poly Pomona lacks is a retail center close to campus, which many other universities have.  The TAP has determined that, “CPP can look to other universities in order to determine the amount of retail its community can support. For example, the University of Connecticut—an agriculture institution without a large surrounding population—provides 3 square feet of retail per student. Emory University, however—a suburban institution near a large metropolitan area—supports 10 square feet of retail per student. Building on these figures, the TAP expects that CPP could sustain 5 square feet of retail per student, totaling 100,000 square feet.”  The controversy here though is that the location would work at Lanterman, but the visibility would be better suited to the location of what is currently the remaining land known as Spadra Farm.  


The future of Cal Poly Pomona South Campus will rely upon key findings and recommendations:

“1. The TAP believes there to be CPP-generated demand for housing to accommodate its professors, administrators, students and other employees.

2. The Lanterman site is large enough to accommodate a variety of uses to diversify income and permit phasing.

3. If CPP moves forward, historic structures should be maintained where possible and could provide a unique identity to the site.”

 

The treatment of the site will hopefully embody Cal Poly Pomona’s “learn by doing” teaching method in their approach towards its future.  

 

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