Chapman University is set to move ahead with plans to redevelop a historic produce packing plant near its campus in Orange.
The school has hired AC Martin Partners Inc. of Los Angeles and Sherman Oaks-based Chattel Architecture Planning & Preservation Inc. to help come up with a plan for the 2-acre site.
Possible uses include graduate student housing, a food court, bookstore or studio space for Chapman’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts.
A budget for the project hasn’t been set yet, according to Kris Olsen, associate vice president of facilities management and campus planning.
A source familiar with the project said it could cost $30 million to $40 million to redevelop.
Chapman plans to work with Orange’s Old Towne Preservation Association and the Orange Barrio Historical Society on the historically significant site, Olsen said. The plant dates back to 1919.
There are a number of buildings on the site. The school is deciding which will be preserved and which to redevelop, Olsen said.
Chapman, which bought the site in late 2004, plans to restore older buildings dating back to the early days of the citrus packing plant, Olsen said. Newer buildings could be transformed.
“We’re going through the process of determining which buildings have the most history,” he said.
The Santiago Orange Growers Association built the packing plant in 1919 and stayed there until 1967. The Villa Park Orchards Association moved to the plant in 1969 and stayed until October.
Prime Produce International LLC came in November and imports and packs avocados at the site.
Yair Crane, Prime Produce’s business development manager, said he hopes the company will continue to operate out of the plant, even with Chapman’s redevelopment plans.
“We’re honored to work out of this place,” he said. “Our goal is to hopefully work with the university and the community to maintain Orange County’s connection to its agricultural history.”
The redevelopment is one of Chapman’s many projects.
Construction is set to begin this summer on a dorm building. Chapman’s Braden Hall is set to be razed and transformed into a 300-bedroom building with a 150-space underground parking structure, conference facilities and a signature tower with a rock-climbing wall inside it.
Landscape renovation is set to start this summer on the central part of Chapman’s campus, between Leatherby Libraries, Beckman Hall and Wilkinson Hall. An outdoor amphitheater, sculptures and seating areas are part of the project.
The school is trying to expand to house a growing number of students, now at about 5,740.
Undergraduate and graduate enrollment has doubled since 1992 and the school has had a five-year growth rate of 17%.
As of December, Chapman University’s net assets stood at $421 million and its endowment fund was at $231 million, up from $18 million 15 years ago.
