Includes a lot of info that the WSJ article glazed over (eg. "Vanderbilt’s planned San Francisco campus expects to serve about 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students")
Looking at Vandy NYC [0], I'm guessing they're trying to pull a Wharton@SF and expand their BSchool's presence in the Bay (and thus enhancing their alumni pool) along with subsuming CCA which has been under tough financial strain for the past few years.
I'm also guessing the Nashville moniker is negatively impacting undergrad yield (eg. I and my peers didn't even apply to CS@GT for undergrad because of racial, LGBTQ+, and body autonomy worries in Georgia and I know for a fact that Duke has been facing issues with yield protection as well)
Edit: You may not agree with these views, but they are actively considered by students nowadays. Most American undergrads are now nonwhite, women, or LGBTQ+, and overwhelmingly lean liberal to progressive. As such, schools in Republican states are negatively impacted even if they are located in Democrat bubbles like Nashville, Austin, or Atlanta.