CSUN

By WADE DANIELS Staff Reporter Goodbye mall, hello Hollywood. After plans to build a retail mall were hammered by the surrounding community, Cal State Northridge is looking at alternative projects including motion picture sound stages. Members of the North Campus Task Force say the sound-stage proposal is preferable to a retail mall in part because it can tie into the university’s academic program. “The task force’s proposal better provides what the university needs and can bring in as good or better revenue than the original plan,” said Richard Hardman, executive director of the Northridge Chamber of Commerce. “Sound stages and production facilities can be student labs for CSUN’s entertainment curriculum and can be rented to studio companies.” University officials are launching a series of meetings this month to consider the sound stage idea and other proposals. University President Blenda Wilson said she was not prepared to endorse any of the plans yet. “There are proposals for new sports stadiums and sound stages, some retail development and other things, but exploration is in the beginning stages,” Wilson said. In September, Wilson dropped plans to build the University MarketCenter on about a third of a CSUN-owned, 65-acre parcel north of campus bounded by Devonshire and Lassen streets on the north and south and Zelzah and Lindley avenues on the east and west. The retail project drew fierce opposition from nearby retailers, who said a new complex could drain their customers and put them out of business. University officials responded by cutting back the original plans from 220,000 square feet of retail development to 150,000 square feet. But Wilson, after consulting with Barry Munitz, then Cal State University Chancellor, ultimately decided that the scaled-back project would not generate the level of revenue the campus was seeking. The North Campus Task Force was appointed by Wilson to consider alternatives. The group, consisting of university officials, community members and business representatives, recommended a comprehensive development plan encompassing all 65 acres of university land. It would include sound stages and post-production facilities, a hotel and convention complex, and a relocated campus sports stadium. The hotel and convention facilities were included in part because the chamber receives many calls looking for such facilities, Hardman said. “I am very happy to see they pulled the retail project off the table so we can get down to business forming a master plan,” Hardman said. About 10 percent of the development would consist of retail uses, primarily to serve users and employees of the production facilities. The task force plan was a result of brainstorming sessions by its members, and though the eventual development is designed to be a solid money-maker for the school, no research was done to establish conclusively how much money the proposal would generate, said task force member Judy Hennessey, chairwoman of CSUN’s marketing department.