Prepared for the Alameda Reuse & Redevelopment Authority by Economic & Planning Systems, Inc.

Excerpts:

“The purpose of this document is to apply for an Economic Development Conveyance (EDC) for certain properties, infrastructure systems, and personal property located at the Naval Air Station Alameda (NAS Alameda).”

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“The objectives of the ARRA and the Navy in the EDC negotiation are to provide for a feasible redevelopment project, to protect the City from undue financial risk, and to ensure that the Navy is compensated fairly on the basis of any net value created by the redevelopment of the site.”

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“Other types of Transfers are Inappropriate – Public Sale. In some cases, the transfer process can be expedited by simply rezoning the base facilities and allowing the federal government to sell the property competitively to the private sector on the open market. This public sale approach would not accomplish the requirements and goals articulated by the NAS Alameda Reuse Plan. The creation of a viable mixed-use project at NAS Alameda depends on the completion of necessary capital upgrades and additions to roadway and utility systems, an ongoing asset management program, and an effective marketing effort, among other requirements. While some individual properties could be transferred effectively via public sale, the result would be a suboptimized ‘checkerboard’ pattern of development that would fall well short of the Reuse Plan’s economic development and job creation objectives. Moreover, most of NAS Alameda is currently within the jurisdiction of the Tidelands Trust. Under the laws of the State of California, these lands cannot be transferred to private ownership, and therefore must become the property of the City of Alameda (ARRA). One of the responsibilities of ARRA in receiving these lands through an EDC is to remove these lands from the public trust in order to achieve transfers to private parties and create jobs.”

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“Based on the findings described above, the estimated market value of NAS Alameda for purposes of accomplishing the reuse plan is zero. In other words, a developer undertaking this project could not afford to pay anything for the land, given even modest assumptions about discounting for risks and opportunity costs. Moreover, even if transferred at no cost, ARRA would require substantial subsidies, loans, and grants in order to initiate development and achieve the job generation and economic development goals of the Reuse Plan, and to keep the City sound fiscally.”