Excerpt:

When city leaders signed a deal to receive about 1,800 acres of Alameda Point from the Navy at no cost, it came with one small string attached: The city had to agree to construct no more than 1,425 new homes on the land – or to pay a premium of $50,000 for each new home that exceeds the limit.

The city has engaged in a massive planning process to prepare the Point for new development that features that number, along with enough commercial space to replace 10,000 of the jobs that disappeared when the base was shuttered. But housing advocates are saying the housing number is arbitrary and unrealistic, and they think more homes will be needed to see the rest of the plan – its employment base, vibrant town center, transit and parks – to fruition.