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Cal State Fullerton, Lennar Talk New El Toro Lease; Land Sale?

California State University, Fullerton, officials are in talks with Miami developer Lennar Corp. for a new lease at the former El Toro Marine base.

The school already runs a campus at El Toro on land that it leased from the Navy. The lease will get transferred to new base owner Lennar by the summer.

The long-term goal for Cal State Fullerton: Not only expand the space it has, but to own some of it, school officials said.

The university’s El Toro campus is a single 46,000-square-foot building on 11 acres.

Cal State officials envision a permanent 275-acre campus at El Toro. They said it could take a year or two to reach a deal with Lennar because they need to come up with a detailed development plan for the space.

Earlier this year, Lennar bought all 3,700 acres of the base that the Navy put up for bid for $1 billion. The price includes development fees to cover roads, sewers and other basics.

Some 3,600 homes, commercial and retail space is set to be built at the base.

Cal State Fullerton’s El Toro campus has 3,400 students and 189 faculty members. That’s up from 2,200 students when it first opened the El Toro campus in 2002.

The school had moved its South County operations to El Toro in 2002 after its lease ran out at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo.

From the beginning, El Toro was the biggest satellite campus in the Cal State system, according to Cal State Fullerton executive vice president Judith Anderson.

Crowding is the main driver behind Cal State Fullerton’s push for more El Toro space, Anderson said.

“We’re expecting a lot of (Southland) population growth and, as a result, more students coming through K-12,” she said. “OC is second only to L.A. County in number of students in the K-12 system.”

The El Toro campus isn’t just an extension or adult learning center, but is a direct satellite branch of Cal State Fullerton, Anderson said.

“We offer only upper division classes at the El Toro campus,” she said. “Some students are taking classes both in Fullerton and El Toro. And we have faculty that teach at both campuses. It provides easier access for students who live in South County.”

The university offers 273 classes at the El Toro campus, Anderson said. The campus offers courses leading to bachelor’s degrees in business as well as several arts and sciences degrees.

Courses include advertising, entertainment, journalism and public relations. There are bachelor’s and master’s level education classes and teaching credential programs.

So far Lennar has set aside about 75 acres of El Toro space for a cemetery, company officials have said. Lennar has received interest from several groups, including churches and retailers, for other development. Lennar officials did not return a call for this story.

The university’s El Toro campus wasn’t the first non-military use of base space, according to Anderson.

“There was an RV storage lot and horse stables, and they’re still there,” she said.

Officials at Traveland U.S.A., a seller of motor homes in Irvine, said they are eyeing some of the El Toro space for an expanded dealership.

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