President of Proposed College in Capistrano to Speak Friday

Ed Johnson, president of the proposed San Juan Colleges, will make a presentation about the planned Capistrano project at the Community Coffee Chat on Friday, April 3.

A group of private investors and college leaders are proposing to build The San Juan Colleges on 74 acres of undeveloped land north of Junipero Serra Road and west of Camino Capistrano. The project would be based on a four-year, residential private-college model, and the colleges’ first phase is anticipated initially at 2,000 students, growing over a decade to approximately 6,000 students, three-quarters of whom would live on campus.

The project would also include a resort hotel/executive conference center with approximately 200 guest rooms, plus meeting and conference rooms and a spa. The colleges would be similar in makeup to the Claremont Colleges, and would be home to three to five branches of existing faith-based schools. Backers, who have been meeting with city and community leaders, plan to submit their formal plans within weeks.

Community Coffee Chat is a weekly mini town-hall forum held at the Camino Real Playhouse at 31776 El Camino Real in San Juan Capistrano and moderated by The Capistrano Dispatch. The playhouse is west of Del Obispo Street and just south of Ortega Highway. The informal meeting begins at 8 a.m.