Local Real Estate Developer Gives Largest Ever Donation Received By Santa Clara University
The Sobrato Organization founder John A. Sobrato and his wife, Susan, just donated $100M to Santa Clara University, the largest gift ever received by the university and the largest the family has ever provided. The gift will go toward building the 300k SF Sobrato Campus for Discovery and Innovation, which will provide undergraduates with labs, classrooms and project spaces for science, technology, engineering and math, reports the San Francisco Business Times.
The university expects over 5,400 undergraduates will use the complex (rendering above), which is expected to be completed in 2020. The project, designed by ZGF Architects and Research Facilities Design, is expected to break ground in fall 2018.
John Sobrato, a member of the university’s board of trustees, graduated from Santa Clara University in 1960. The Sobratos previously donated $20M to build the university’s Harrington Learning Commons, Sobrato Technology Center, a library and other buildings. The family also gave $15M in 2015 to upgrade athletic facilities at UCSF.
The family foundation, which includes the couple's three children, began in 1996 and has donated $375M in funding and real estate for education and charitable organizations. [SFBT]
