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BRAC to the Drawing Board03-02-10 | News

BRAC to the Drawing Board

Plans for transforming the fomer Naval Air Station in Alameda, Calif. into a new master-planned community was drubbed by
local voters.

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Naval Air Station Alameda

Naval Air Station Alameda takes up about one-third of the island of Alameda and has great views of the San Francisco skyline. The base was in use for more than half a century, but closed on April 25, 1997. The television series MythBusters has conducted some of its more destructive/explosive experiments on the station grounds, but better uses were envisioned!

SunCal Companies of Irvine, Calif. has been in discussions with the city the last three years to redevelop the old naval station into ?EUR??,,????'?????<

The mayor, most of the city council and the chamber of commerce, however, did not support the terms of the new developer. A SunCal-sponsored initiative (Measure B) was put on the Feb. 2010 ballot. A Yes vote would allow the developer to move forward. Eighty-five percent of the voters rejected Measure B.

Four developers have now tried and failed to redevelop the base. Why would this community reject new development and environmental cleanup and infrastructure costs associated with base reuse projects in these troubled economic times? Some opponents of Measure B said the plan would strip the city of oversight of the developer. Critics also objected to the $200 million cap on what SunCal would pay for the library and other civic benefits.