Fuller Theological Seminary Lists Pasadena Properties For Sale; Will Move To Pomona

The board of trustees for Pasadena’s iconic Fuller Theological Seminary has decided to sell the 70-year-old, 13-acre campus and other affiliated properties in the city and move to Pomona by 2021.

CBRE is listing the mix of 11 properties that is made up of the higher education institute and commercial and residential buildings in Pasadena. CBRE’s Chalvis Evans and Laurie Lustig-Bower are leading the sale.

Evans said the properties up for sale include 248 apartment units, historic Craftsmen homes, office buildings, land and a campus with a newly constructed library, administrative and student services offices and more.

“We are already getting a lot of interest,” Evans said.

In a letter to the seminary's 1,300 students and 70 staff, Fuller Theological’s president, Mark Labberton, called the board’s decision bittersweet but also a decisive move to prepare for the next generation of theological students 27 miles east in Pomona. 

“Our home for the last 70 years will make our home for the next 70 years possible,” Labberton wrote.

Labberton said the proceeds from the sale of the campus and other properties would eliminate the school’s debts and provide a sizable increase to the endowment, and the move to Pomona would allow the school to build a new facility while also “significantly lower cost of living for faculty, staff, and students.”

“We believe this decision — along with other necessary bold moves — will address concerns about financial sustainability for Fuller, allowing us to actually invest in the future of theological education at a time of industry-wide disruption so great that many seminaries are closing,” Labberton wrote.

There is no set price for the properties, but Evans said the team would begin accepting the highest bids within the next 30 to 45 days. The seminary prefers to sell it all to one buyer, he said.