Students pitch concepts for land use, express housing concerns
By Christian Rodarte, April 14, 2026
Cal Poly Pomona hosted an open house on April 9, inviting students and faculty to help reimagine the 300-acre Lanterman Development Center, and housing emerged as a top priority.
The Reimagine Lanterman open house gave students and faculty a chance to develop concepts and pitch their ideas to two firms in “Shark Tank” style format, including Gensler, a global architecture firm CPP hired to propose what should be built on the Lanterman site, and KPFF, which specializes in structural, civil, transportation and engineering services.
“The point of the event was to get student perspectives, gain ideas of innovation and create a good exercise for students to gain real-world experience,” said Kristen Sarmiento, an associate for Gensler.
Landscape architecture student Nester Fabro Jr. said he attended because it was a great opportunity to meet one of the most recognized architectural firms, Gensler.
“As a fourth-year student, it’s like a road down memory lane,” Fabro said. “I used to visit the Lanterman with my friends as a freshman. I have always been really interested in the land.”
According to Gensler’s presentation, the Lanterman property was built in 1927 and used as a hospital for individuals with developmental disabilities. It was decommissioned in 2105 and transferred to CPP. The current architecture is Spanish mission revival and mid-century style buildings.
Representative from KPFF, Jayce Lilly, thinks the main issue with the land is old utilities, and that can really bring the cost of planning and construction up.
“I’m big on community development, especially when it’s reused for something more purposeful,” said Caroline Ibarra, a master’s in urban regional planning student.
Ibarra heard about the open house through her professor and had received emails inviting her to attend.
“I love the idea of no budget,” said Ibarra. “That lets me have open ideas.”
The property has lots of potential to repurpose historical buildings for community or hospitality uses to create a sense of identity. But there are constraints like limited access, rail barriers and some trees restricting redevelopment options, according to Gensler.
Ian Perez, an environmental design architect student, considers the Lanterman property a “resource desert,” as it sits on a weird piece of land with no buildings or social environment. Perez envisions more homes being built on the land to increase housing for students, pointing to limited availability.
“Housing for students right now is at 10% if you take into account the school populations of 27,000,” Perez said. “That’s only housing for 2,700 students, homes on the site can increase to 15-20%, which will bring in more money and help create a larger on-campus life for students.”
Housing was a major focus throughout the event, with many students emphasizing the need for more on-campus living, along with spaces that support creativity, such as makerspaces, according to Sarmiento. However, was surprised students voted for more industry partnerships and housing over health and wellness.
“Amenities for health and wellness weren’t chosen much,” Sarmiento said. “I was expecting Gen Z students to be more, I want more organic this or that and want more therapeutic environments.”
Gensler provided presentation boards that allowed students to vote by placing stickers on the amenities they were most interested in developing on the Lanterman property. Students were allowed to speak to representatives one-on-one to discuss ideas and concepts. The event was presented like an art show, where everyone is walking around giving their own unique opinions. Students from multiple departments came and were really engaged with the ideas.
Senior Associate from Gensler Jaymes Dunsmore said, the Lanterman property is being developed to help the university as well as the broader Pomona region. Transit areas can help more areas of Pomona to connect with students and vice versa.
“We want to help make the campus community financially feasible, create housing for staff and students because CPP is a commuter school,” Dunsmore said. “We want to create retail, new transportation and shuttles that help serve everyone in the community.”
According to Anthony Orlando, an associate professor of finance, real estate and law and the faculty representative appointed by the Academic Senate for the Lanterman project, CPP hired Gensler, Michael Baker and Keyser Marston Associates, paid by the $750,000 that came from the Chancellor’s Office during the summer of 2025, according to previous coverage by The Poly Post, to conduct market, historic and demand research respectively for the Lanterman site.
Once a master developer is chosen, the goal is for the Lanterman property to be rented to the master developer for new buildings and other uses while paying rent to CPP, who will oversee everything, according to Orlando.
Gensler will conduct will be an optional work session April 24 for those interested in participating in the competition open to students and faculty at Gensler’s downtown office. Final proposals will be presented to a panel of judges in early May.
“The project timeline is still a few years out,” Orlando said. “It will be a while until we have shovels in the ground.”
Feature image courtesy of Christian Rodarte