REAL ESTATE COSTS RULE OUT CSUN GREEK ROW.

Byline: Lisa M. Sodders Staff Writer

California's record-high real estate prices mean there won't be a formal Greek Row at California State University, Northridge, anytime soon, university officials say.

Fraternity and sorority members are unhappy that CSUN's Envision 2035 Master Plan, the first update since 1998, doesn't include provisions for replacing the ragtag collection of off-campus Hellenic houses with an on- campus Greek Row.

Instead, the master plan details goals of building about 600 faculty and staff housing units and expanding the university's residence halls with small, educationally themed Living Learning Communities, which would incorporate academic projects and support into students' after-class hours.

``Right now, the university's highest priority is to assure a quality education in the future,'' said CSUN President Jolene Koester. ``That's only going to happen if we can continue to recruit excellent faculty and staff, and the high cost of housing in this area is now having a deleterious effect.''

Chris Perry, 22, of Thousand Oaks, president of the Sigma Nu fraternity, said the high price of California real estate has put the burgeoning Greek system - estimated at 1,000 to 1,500 members - at a distinct disadvantage. Most organizations simply can't compete with developers whose visions tend to run along the lines of pricey condominiums, not frat houses.

Forget stately fraternity and sorority houses with graceful columns and sweeping driveways. Most houses at CSUN are just that: small, traditional houses where only a handful of members live full-time.

``The closest thing we had was Halsted Street, and that slowly but surely is being dismantled,'' Perry said, referring to the handful of fraternity houses on the street near campus. ``It would be helpful if the school provided some kind of housing.''

Los Angeles City Councilman Greig Smith, who represents the Northridge area, thinks campus officials should reconsider adding a Greek Row to the campus plan. Northridge residents have been complaining for at least a decade about noisy, late-night fraternity parties, and a Greek Row would move them out of the neighborhoods and closer to campus.

``In the past, the university took no ownership or responsibility whatsoever for the off-campus Greek activities,'' Smith said. ``But under Koester and (CSUN Police Chief Anne) Glavin, they've begun to take some leadership and ownership and control it.''

Smith also noted that a number of the houses are ``illegal, technically,'' because the fraternities and sororities rent houses that lack a conditional-use permit from the city as dwellings for multiple inhabitants. In the past, the city has closed some houses down for that, particularly when they have become a nuisance.

Smith said he has talked to university officials about incorporating a Greek Row on campus, similar to the one at the 32,000-student San Diego State University.

Eight fraternities are located on 1.4 acres near the San Diego campus in a complex that includes a 62-unit apartment complex with underground parking, and eight two-story chapter houses, said Theresa Nakata, director of public relations for the SDSU Research Foundation, which owns and manages the apartment building. A similar project is in the works for the campus' sororities.

Koester noted that development was built with a lot of private money, and said while she encourages the Greek groups to continue to build their organizations, any funding for a Greek Row ``will have to come from some funding sources larger than the university.''

But Smith said CSUN should still take another look from a planning perspective.

``They're not a local commuter school any more,'' he said. ``They've got 33,000 students, and they're talking about (growing), and with that comes more students from out of the area that will live on campus and in the Greek Houses.''

Lisa M. Sodders, [phone]

lisa.sodders(at)dailynews.com