NORTHRIDGE : Cal State Buys a House for Incoming President

To capitalize on low real estate prices, the Cal State Northridge Foundation has bought a house in Northridge for the school’s incoming president with plans to sell it in two or three years after building a presidential residence on campus, school officials announced this week.

In exchange, after she becomes president on Sept. 5, Blenda J. Wilson will turn over to the foundation the $2,200 monthly housing allowance she will receive from the state and the foundation under her contract, officials said.

Wilson, now winding up her present job in Michigan, visited the Northridge area in early July looking for possible houses to rent, said university spokeswoman Kaine Thompson.

But the foundation--a self-financed, nonprofit organization governed by a 14-member board--decided to take advantage of the current soft real estate market and buy her a house, Thompson said.

The promise of housing in the comparatively more expensive area was a key element in luring Wilson from the University of Michigan at Dearborn, where she is provided with a house.