UC Merced and trust split 1,200 acres

UC Merced and the Virginia Smith Trust have agreed to split the 1,256-acre tract of land just south of the campus, officials announced Wednesday.

The parcel of land, known as “University Community North,” is on North Lake Road and abuts the southern boundary of the UC Merced campus. The two parcels are approximately equal in size, and the university will take the northern portion, according to a news release.

The agreement is subject to final approval by the UC Office of the President and the usual conditions of closing the deal.

The land was originally purchased by Management Committee of the University Community Land Company LLC, a 50-50 partnership between the university and the trust, in 2002 from Merced rancher John Myers.

It was acquired to eventually have housing, retail shops, commercial buildings, schools and other facilities in close proximity to the new UC campus. The undeveloped land is now used to graze cattle.

The change in the plan is meant to allow the trust to use its portion of the land to make money in support of its scholarships, which go to college-bound students from the Merced area, according to Chancellor Dorothy Leland. “We have a longstanding partnership with the Virginia Smith Trust and support their mission wholeheartedly,” she said in a news release.

Leland said the land split does not put an end to a future partnership for the development of the university’s land. The land where UC Merced sits was part of the 7,000-acre trust.

Fred Honore, a member of the Merced County Board of Education and trustee of the Virginia Smith Trust, said funding scholarships that help deserving local students achieve their dreams of attending college is the mission of the trust. “Our ability to generate income from this land will help us expand the scholarship program,” he said in a news release.

More than 3,500 students have received scholarships totaling $4.5 million from the trust, according to Merced County Superintendent of Schools Steven E. Gomes.

Information on the Virginia Smith Scholarship can be found at http://www.mcoe.org/smith/Pages/Virginia-Smith-Trust.aspx.

This story was originally published March 9, 2016 at 7:26 PM with the headline "UC Merced and trust split 1,200 acres."