In addition to plans to expand its downtown Ventura, Calif. location, Patagonia has bought a property in the town that housed the former Brooks Institute. The sale was finalized earlier this month, according to John Cardona, a sales assistant with CBRE, the real estate firm that handled the listing. The 7.87-acre site, at 5301 N. Ventura Ave. in unincorporated Ventura, is zoned industrial.
Patagonia so far has declined to release details on plans for the site.
Brooks, which specialized in photography, filmmaking and other visual arts, moved to the property in 2002. Brooks announced in August 2016 it was closing, at risk of losing its accreditation and facing tighter federal rules on for-profit higher education institutions.
The campus features eight building, including classrooms, administrative offices, sound stages and warehouses, according to CBRE’s marketing materials. In 2010, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors approved a zone change — from general to light industrial — that allows it greater flexibility in developing it. It also added a vocational or professional school as an acceptable use.
Patagonia currently has space at 235 W. Santa Clara St., in the historical Great Pacific Iron Works. The company expects to tear down an existing two-story, 16,000-square-foot building across the street and replace it with a four-story, 49,000-square-foot building, according to conceptual plans presented to the Ventura City Council last year.
