De La Salle pulls out of Placer project

Sacramento Business Journal - May 10, 2005

The Christian Brothers announced Tuesday it is withdrawing its proposal for a four-year private college in south Placer County, citing slow county approval of the project, which Christian Brothers expects would increase development costs.

The decision will not affect project planning, said Steve Capps, a spokesman for KT Communities, a Roseville-based corporation that's backing the project and donated 1,100 acres to the university for a 600-acre campus and 500-acre related housing community. The idea was to use money generated from home sales to build a university that would eventually have as many as 6,000 students.

As recently as late last month, backers suggested that project approval by year's end could bring the first students to town by 2008. A May 6 letter to Placer County Superintendent Bud Nobili withdrew the plan, but held out hope for a second chance.

"We cannot sustain our ongoing participation during what increasingly appears to be an indefinitely long process that could result in unacceptable costs," wrote Brother Stanislaus Campbell. "Despite assurances from the county as well as the hard work done by the KT Communities team, we have concluded that Placer County will not meet the expected date for granting of entitlements. Indeed, as of this date, county maps still show a new freeway running though the middle of the site."

The proposed De La Salle University may not be off the map for good however. Christian Brothers officials plan to finish a feasibility study of the project and may still want to be considered for the project once county officials grant final approval.

Placer County Supervisor Ted Gains pledged new efforts Tuesday to get the project approved in diligent but timely way.

"This is a wake-up call for the county," he said, adding that the two-year timeline project backers were initially given for approval expires next month. "I'll be looking to our planning staff to do everything we can to have a De La Salle University in Placer County -- it is very important to us," he said.

Plans for De LaSalle University Announced

March 22, 2003

Plans to build a private four-year university in the Sacramento region were announced March 14 by Christian Brother Craig J. Franz, president of St. Mary’s College. The Christian Brothers run Christian Brothers High School in Sacramento and St. Mary’s College in Moraga.

In a morning press conference at Christian Brothers High School, officials of the order said they had reached an oral agreement with landowner Angelo Tsakopoulos to build the university on 600 acres of donated land in southwestern Placer County, adjacent to St. Clare Church in Antelope/West Roseville.

The tentative name given to the four-year institution is De La Salle University, named after St. John the Baptist de la Salle, founder of the Brothers of the Christian Schools and patron saint of teachers.

“We are both pleased and excited about the opportunity to launch a new Lasallian university in the Sacramento area, particularly because the need for private higher education in the region is so great,” said Brother Craig J. Franz, president of St. Mary’s College, who will lead the effort to establish the new university.

“This is certainly a challenge, but it will be a joy to undertake,” he said.

Brother Franz said he expects the new university to have 2,000 to 4,000 students. In comparison, St. Mary’s has 2,500 students and employs about 500 faculty members and 500 assistants and staff, he said.

“We anticipate that the (possible) jobs will be a wonderful boost to Placer County,” Brother Franz said.

The estimated cost of construction was not released at the press conference, nor were details announced about the cost of attending the university. Tsakopoulos’ son, Kyriakos, president of AKT Development, said that plans were underway to raise $50 to $100 million for the new university.

The Brothers and the Tsakopoulos family expect the university to be built in two to four years, depending on whether they can get county approval and meet planning requirements. “At the outside, maybe seven years to completion,” said Kyriakos Tsakopoulos.