POP Demands That Development of Fuller Include Affordable Housing for Pasadenans

Fuller’s 13-acre campus includes 267 multifamily residential units and 300,000 square feet of office, administrative and classroom space as well as a separate library building and considerable open space. – Courtesy photo / Fuller.edu

Pasadenans Organizing for Progress (POP) sent a letter on Sept. 16 to Pasadena city officials as well as the Fuller Theological Seminary president and board of trustees demanding that future development of the Fuller campus – which the school is abandoning to move to Pomona – incorporate strict guidelines that require significant affordable housing and other community benefits.

The letter called on Fuller to temporarily cease its efforts to sell its land holdings in Pasadena, so the city and POP can discuss a “community benefits agreement” (CBA) that will govern future development of the site. POP sent the letter to Mayor Terry Tornek, members of the City Council, Pasadena Planning Director David Reyes, Fuller President Mark Labberton, members of the City Planning Commission, the entire Fuller Board of Trustees, and CBRE (the real estate broker that is soliciting development proposals on Fuller’s behalf). CBA’s are used in many other cities to make sure that developers address community needs.

The Fuller campus, located in downtown Pasadena, is one of the largest development sites in the city. Its 13-acre campus includes 267 multifamily residential units and 300,000 square feet of office, administrative and classroom space as well as a separate library building and considerable open space.

In its letter,  POP – a multi-issue community coalition whose mission is to make Pasadena a more just, democratic and inclusive city – noted that the city’s  Master Development Plan for the future of the Fuller site, which includes a commitment to affordable housing, “has gone largely unfulfilled.”

According to POP, Fuller violated the city’s Master Plan in 2014 when it sold 197 apartment units in several apartment buildings to a San Francisco-based development, Carmel Partners, displacing over 180 households. Carmel Partners sought to build a luxury housing complex on that site, but last year POP mobilized community opposition to that plan and Carmel abandoned its proposal.

In May of 2017 POP arranged a meeting with President Labberton and a coalition of clergy and other community leaders to discuss a solution should Fuller decide to sell the rest of its properties and leave Pasadena. President Labberton apologized for the sale of the seven apartment buildings and eviction of the residents before he was appointed president. He committed to meeting with community residents and exploring a CBA as part of any future property sale. POP claims that President Labberton reneged on that commitment as the Seminary engaged real estate brokers to sell off the balance of its properties.

“If Fuller is unwilling to act in a socially responsible way,” the POP letter says, “then it is the city government’s responsibility to adopt rules and laws that serve the needs of Pasadena residents, and that includes making sure that the Fuller campus – one of the last large development sites in the city – is utilized to promote the public interest rather than allow Fuller, a non-profit, tax-exempt educational institution, to profit from the sale of its campus to the highest bidder and for the buyers to turn the campus into an enclave of luxury housing out of reach for most Pasadena residents. “

POP’s letter includes the following set of demands:

– A CBA signed by the city, POP, and any developer seeking to purchase and develop the campus, which would lay out the developers’ rights and responsibilities on that site.

– A linkage fee in the Master Plan area on the development of non-residential buildings that would provide revenue to the city’s Housing Trust Fund.

– An affordable housing production requirement within the Master Plan area.

– A temporary rent freeze for all tenants on Fuller properties until Fuller finalizes its move.

– A commitment to enforce the Pasadena Tenant Protection Ordinance citywide.

– Adoption of a Just Cause Tenant Protection Ordinance citywide.

If Fuller proceeds with the sale of its properties, and the city does not adopt strict development guidelines for the site that includes a significant number of affordable housing units, POP promised, to mobilize “fierce community opposition, and potential litigation,” to stop any development from proceeding.

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