Following the sale of its Manhattan campus to NYU last month, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion has reached a deal to sell the bulk of its Los Angeles campus to the University of Southern California for $35 million.  

According to Andrew Rehfeld, president of HUC-JIR, the Reform movement’s rabbinical seminary and college, with enrollment increasing online and at its Jerusalem campus, the institution no longer required the full space in New York City or Los Angeles, and needed to reallocate resources to meet developing needs. 

“This is just a culmination of that process that asked a question, ‘What’s the best use of our properties that we hold? And most importantly, what are the needs for our facilities, and are we achieving that?’” Rehfeld told eJP. “It allows us to be nimble. It allows us to build flexible space that meets the needs for now and as we head into a new era for Reform Judaism.”

According to the terms of the deal, HUC will retain the west wing of the Jack H. Skirball Campus — around 30,000 square feet — while USC will acquire the majority of the campus, including its east wing.

The majority of HUC-JIR’s $250 million endowment is donor-restricted, Rehfeld told eJewishPhilanthropy. While the institution used to rely on congregational proceeds for discretionary funding, as Reform congregations have contracted over the last couple of decades, funds that used to support HUC have significantly waned. As a result, HUC-JIR has had limited access to unrestricted dollars. 

With the sale of the Los Angeles campus for $35 million, HUC will have access to 5% of the profits per year, allowing the school to invest in its long-term goals, including training its students in podcasting and video casting, technological improvements and a two-year renovation of the building’s west wing. Having employed renowned Israeli architect Hagy Belzberg, HUC-JIR hopes the refurbishment will make its campus more appealing to in-person students.

“I’m tremendously excited about what this means for our future, for the institution, and what HUC can be as a beacon to legacy institutions that are of nature, resistant to change,” Rehfeld told eJP. “This represents a major commitment to creating a new era for HUC and the Reform movement, not by holding on to things as we always have done them, but holding on to the educational values that have driven us and understanding they’re going to look different in every age.”

The two institutions have a history of collaboration, including more than 50 years of joint academic programming through the Louchheim School for Judaic Studies and Zelikow School of Jewish Nonprofit Management. This partnership was extended by another 25 years in 2022. 

The sale of the Skirball Campus, located north of USC’s campus, will allow USC to meet its expanding facility needs, and will strengthen cross-institutional collaboration, according to Brian K. Wilson, executive director for USC Real Estate Development and Leasing.

“The agreement enables students from both institutions to continue to benefit from shared experiences, access programs such as the Louchheim School for Jewish Studies, and participate in events at HUC and USC through our various faculty-run centers and student organizations,” Wilson said in a statement.