News Release
10-25-07
SAN DIEGO -- Thomas Jefferson School of Law is pleased to announce the purchase of property in Downtown San Diego's East Village that, in 2010, could become home to the law school's proposed eight-story campus and projected student population of nearly 1,000, both of which would likely provide a significant boost to the downtown economy and the community's resources.
"The acquisition of this property is an important step in the plans to relocate our school downtown," according to the dean of Thomas Jefferson School of Law, Rudolph C. Hasl. "It's an essential step to making those dreams a reality. It is also a transformative event in the history of the school."
The property is located at 1123 Island Ave., right on the San Diego Trolley line and just a short walk to the Padres' Petco Park and the planned site of the new downtown library. Hasl said plans to relocate the law school to the downtown area have been in the works for about two years.
"This project is in response to a very real need for a physical plant that allows us to achieve our academic program goals of greater interaction and a more individualized legal education," said Dean Hasl. "We want to reposition the law school in a strategic location. Downtown is an ideal legal education setting where there is tremendous advantage for our students because of the proximity to the courthouses and local government offices, other public agencies and a good number of law firms. The potential for increased interaction with the legal community is enormous."
Thomas Jefferson, which has a student body of nearly 800 and a full-time faculty and staff of more than 100, has outgrown its current facilities in the 21-hundred block of San Diego Ave. in Old Town, where it has been located since1983. The school now occupies 75,000 square feet spread between three separate structures, all three originally built as office buildings rather than as part of an educational setting. In recent years, the law school has undergone numerous renovations to accommodate the growth of its academic program, but as Dean Hasl noted, the struggle to adapt the tight quarters for educational purposes has run out of steam and options.
The new building will have a gross square footage of 177,000 and a net square footage of about142,000. The architectural plans, of which have been submitted to the Centre City Development Corporation (CCDC) for approval, show designs for a contemporary-looking structure that features several outdoor terraces and walls of windows through which passersby can see into the law school while those inside can observe the activity of the East Village. The interior plans are still in progress and will include an increased number of classrooms, offices and collaborative work areas as well as an expansive two-floor law library, and ample open space and study areas. Half of the ground floor of the building would be dedicated to law school offices while the other half would be commercial space open to the public in the form of a cafe, bookstore and a live client legal clinic to be operated by Thomas Jefferson.
There also would be three levels of underground parking, although Hasl believes that being so close to the trolley line will alleviate some of the need for parking spaces, especially since the school would continue to subsidize mass transit costs for students as it now does. He also expects a number of
students to live within walking distance to the new campus because the law school is currently exploring
possibilities for a student housing project nearby. Some students, faculty and staff already live in the downtown area.
"Housing always is an important part of the package to attract students," according to Hasl, who is in his 27th year as a law school dean and has served longer in that capacity than any other currently serving dean in the nation. "It is much easier for a student to make the big decision to come to a distant location when there is housing in place, especially in a large city like San Diego. It helps ease the stress of going to law school." About half of Thomas Jefferson's student body comes from outside California.
"We plan to be a vibrant part of the East Village - we're the last piece of the puzzle in this newly redeveloped setting of commercial and residential mixed use," said Hasl, who anticipates the groundbreaking for the new campus will take place this coming April, although a contractor has not yet been selected. If all goes as planned, classes will commence there in fall 2010 semester.
The chair of Thomas Jefferson's Board of Trustees, local businessman Samuel J. Kahn, also is enthusiastic about the plans to relocate the law school downtown.
"Thomas Jefferson School of Law is a valuable community resource," Kahn said. "We are very proud of what we do as a law school and what we offer to the community. We also are an S & P investment grade corporation that will bring 1,100 people to the downtown area. We will be an important part of the fabric of the downtown community."
Kahn says the school will eventually sell its current Old Town site, but for now it's an investment. "After all, it's San Diego real estate," he added.
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