Planning Commission to Hold First Review of ArtCenter Development Agreement

The Planning Commission will review the development agreement between the city and the ArtCenter College of Design.

The review will be the first in a series of periodic reviews of the agreement by the commission, according to a city staff report.

The meeting will be held at 3 p.m. on Wednesday and can be viewed at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85715734094

Last year the ArtCenter signed a Development Agreement that requires the school to pay the city $50,000 annually upon the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy for the first of four new buildings approved as part of its Master Plan.

The development agreement requires an additional $50,000 per year at the issuance of each Certificate of Occupancy, for a total of $200,000 per year if ArtCenter builds out its Master Plan.

According to a city staff report, the 2018 ArtCenter 15-year Master Plan comprehensively identifies a vision and future development for both the ArtCenter Hillside and South Campuses.

The plan is scheduled to be implemented in two phases, with Phase 1 occurring in the first five years, and Phase 2 in the following ten years.

The plan seeks to increase total enrollment from 2,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) students to a maximum of 2,500 FTE students. Staff and faculty could increase from 753 to 994.

The Master Plan focuses growth at the south campus, while providing for infrastructure improvements and building renovations at the Hillside Campus.

At the South Campus, the two-phase development would include a total of three 100-foot tall, eight-story buildings for academic programs and student housing; an elevated open quad area over the Metro Gold Line; a mobility hub below the quad; renovation and internal floor area addition to an existing two-story building; renovation of an existing six-story building for academic purposes; and a compressed natural gas fueling facility within the mobility hub area.

Improvements within the Hillside Campus would include renovations, reconstruction, and additions to existing buildings; removal of a temporary building; installation of photovoltaic solar canopies within the parking lots; and construction of an entrance kiosk, which would also occur in two phases. No development is proposed on any undeveloped areas of the Hillside Campus or any other hillside properties owned by ArtCenter.

“In reviewing the documents and information provided by ArtCenter and records on file with the City, ArtCenter is in compliance with all applicable terms and conditions of the Development Agreement,” according to a city staff report. “The project is moving forward as scheduled and ArtCenter has maintained and provided records demonstrating its compliance with the terms and conditions of the Development Agreement.”

In July, the Pasadena City Council adopted formal policy on a new revenue tool for negotiating payments “in lieu of taxes” from tax-exempt nonprofits.

Nonprofit entities like ArtCenter, Caltech and others don’t pay property taxes in the city, but they receive all the city benefits of services that tax-paying entities pay.

A PILOT can only be negotiated when a nonprofit developer requests a Development Agreement.

Institutions sometimes seek the agreements because the Agreements allow the institution to protect entitlements by guaranteeing city regulations that apply to the project will not change during the term of the agreement.

Nonprofits are not be required to enter into Development Agreements.

In the city’s history only seven Development Agreements have been established. Three of those were with nonprofits: Fuller Seminary, the Norton Simon Museum and the ArtCenter.