Stanford looks to expand onto campus of nearby Catholic university
By Jim Elledge
Stanford University has been looking at expanding its campus by building some or all of a proposed new residential building at Stanford University’s nearby Catholic university.
St. Mary’s College in San Jose, a sister institution of the University of San Francisco, would like to buy the land for $6.5 million and plans to build a 1,500- to 2,000-seat basketball arena, possibly a performing arts center and some student housing, the San Jose Mercury News reported on Friday.
The two schools discussed the potential sale over the weekend and plans are still preliminary.
“We look forward to working with them to move forward with the development,” said Bob Schaeffer, chief development officer for St. Mary’s, in a statement. “We remain committed to our commitment to the Catholic community of San Jose by offering a quality university education while at the same time offering a safe, clean and sustainable environment for our students, staff, faculty, and community.”
St. Mary’s President Rev. Daniel V. Koehler has been in talks with the university for at least two years about the proposed move, though his discussions with the school’s administrators have not yet come to a formal deal, The Christian Science Monitor reported Friday.
The new facility would be the first major use of the land since the school opened in 1951.
Stanford University, in an effort to “improve the economic, environmental and cultural condition of the city by developing on a major parcel of land adjacent to the University,” agreed to the plan, according to the Mercury News.
The university “would develop in the new space some of the services currently provided by the St. Mary’s College at the university,” the newspaper wrote.
In the 1990s, the University of San Francisco was sued by the California Attorney General to block the school’s expansion on top of a campus that already contained 3,000 students and 30,000 square feet of buildings for the school. As of last week, the court ruled against the school and in favor of the Attorney General, the Mercury News reported.
The school would develop some of the land, but it