Update on Sale of Campus

Church conducts
listening meetings

By Mat Morgan

Comments and concerns are submitted.

Church members hear update on sale.

Neighbors look over plans.

Interested in living on campus?

Setup in Hall of Administration.

Photos by Thomas C. Hanson

PASADENA—On Oct. 29, all WCG members in and around Pasadena were invited to a meeting in the Ambassador Auditorium to meet the team working on the entitlement and sale of the Ambassador campus. Bernie Schnippert, director of Finance & Planning, introduced the consultants and then the team answered questions. Please see the team roles and responsibilities listed later in this article.

On Oct. 30, the church was host for an open house for residents of Pasadena. All 75,000 households in Pasadena were invited to the Hall of Administration to meet the team, ask questions about the entitlement process and provide suggestions on design transportation and the future of the Ambassador Auditorium.

About 320 attended, with more than 1,000 others sending their comments in the mail. Many guests expressed interest in being kept informed about the process as well as a strong desire to live in the residential community being planned.

In preparation for this meeting, the church’s Facilities Department built about 140 feet of display wall to hold architectural designs, maps and photographs. By using internal expertise and labor, the church saved several thousand dollars that would have been spent to rent a temporary wall.

We conducted a public workshop on Nov. 19 in the Hall of Administration, where we shared preliminary plan elements with the public. We are refining the plan to present it to the public again on Dec. 17 and probably in January. The refined plan will be presented to the Pasadena city staff in the spring.

November was a busy month for the entitlement and sale team. We conducted listening and update meetings with Pasadena city council members and their deputies; the Ambassador Hall Board, a citizens group that supports the reopening of Ambassador Auditorium; the Pasadena Design Commission, a city council-appointed group responsible for reviewing design elements of new development; members of the Transportation Advisory Commission; the Developers Club of Pasadena; and other interested citizens. Many additional meetings are scheduled.

In addition to the main campus entitlement and sale process, three parcels of land that are not part of the main campus are being marketed to take advantage of the strong real estate market. Escrow on these parcels is scheduled to close early in 2003. The church’s Facilities Department, headed by Vance Gilless, working in conjunction with Ron Urwiller, church archivist, are relocating church archives from buildings located on these parcels in preparation for the sale. Some roof repair and other minor upgrades are being made to buildings that will now house the archives.

Many members have called to express their support and prayers. Thank you. The entitlement and sales team covets your prayers as we proceed with these complicated next steps in the entitlement process.

Worldwide Church of God—Owner

As owner of the property, the WCG will retain the lead role in planning the future redevelopment of the campus property. The church will be actively involved in all aspects of the planning and decision making process. The church will not play the role of developer—upon approval of the proposed plan, a team of builders will be chosen to implement development on the various parcels.

SheaHomes is working with the church to assemble and manage the team that will design the proposed community. Shea’s core responsibilities will include: (1) management and oversight of the planning and entitlement process, (2) construction of common improvements (common areas, streets, infrastructure), and (3) management of the builder team to ensure coordination and compliance with the established master architecture and urban planning framework.

VTBS and EDAW will lead the entire design team in the development of the urban planning and architectural framework for the community.

Jan Van Tilburg of VTBS will head the effort and provides exceptional expertise and experience in a wide variety of building typologies.

Steve Kellenberg of EDAW will provide depth and experience, with particular focus from an environmental planning perspective. Ultimately, the proposed community will be reflected in a comprehensive set of design guidelines that will establish the urban planning and architectural framework.

A team of architects will be chosen in the future to design individual buildings within the established framework. VTBS and EDAW will retain responsibilities for review as members of the Design Review committee to ensure compliance with the established Design Guidelines.

EDAW’s landscape design team will play a supportive and collaborative role in the design process. The famed landscape architect Garrett Eckbo, one of the founders of EDAW, designed the Ambassador campus decades ago. The landscape group will be charged to ensure the plan achieves its goal of integrating architecture with landscape. The Design Guidelines will govern all of the landscape for the proposed community, including common area, perimeter and internal streetscapes, and individual building areas.

Meyer, Mohaddes Associates (MMA) will support the design team in the area of transportation and circulation analysis. MMA will be charged with optimizing the circulation elements of the proposed plan to achieve the stated goal of encouraging pedestrian and bicycle circulation, and enhancing linkages to public transit.

They will be integral to the planning process in analyzing and advising on appropriate ingress and egress service points for buildings, parking and internal and external pedestrian, bicycle and automobile circulation. The City of Pasadena will choose the traffic consultant to perform required technical traffic study for the anticipated Supplemental Environmental Impact Report.

Historic Resources Group (HRG) will support the design team in the areas of historic preservation planning and building assessments. HRG is the recognized regional leader in historic preservation planning and has completed a number of projects throughout Southern California. The firm has a mix of professionals including architectural historians, architects, planners and educators—ensuring the best level of expertise available in the industry.

Copyright © Worldwide Church of God, 2002