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City begins mulling SunCal plans for Alameda Point

By Peter Hegarty, Staff Writer
September 29, 2008 – Alameda Journal

City leaders are about to start looking at the plans SunCal Companies have for developing Alameda Point — a proposal that calls for some 4,200 new homes, a new elementary school and other changes.

The city's Historical Advisory Board will begin reviewing the company's draft proposal when it meets at City Hall at 3 p.m. Thursday.

It will be just the first of a string of meetings on the project, which if it wins approval, could result in construction starting at as early as two years from now.

During Thursday's meeting, the board will review and comment on the historic preservation and adaptive reuse components of the plan, which also includes a 55-acre sports complex.

The other meetings are:

  • On Oct. 9, the Recreation and Park Commission will focus on open space and recreational proposals in the plan, especially the sports complex.
  • On Oct 15, the Housing Commission will look at the housing proposals.
  • On Oct. 16 the Economic Development Commission will review proposals for jobs and commercial development at the former base.
  • On Oct. 22, the Transportation Commission reviews the plan in a joint meeting with the Alameda Reuse and Redevelopment Authority.

The plan goes before the Planning Board on Oct. 27.

SunCal's concept likely will end up in the hands of Alameda voters since it does not comply with Measure A, which restricts most housing development on the Island to single-family homes and duplexes.

"To have a real successful, vibrant community, you need to have a diversity of people. To have a diversity of people, you need to have a diversity of housing," SunCal's Pat Keliher said in an interview last week. "Ultimately, the voters will decide. People will have to weigh the pros and cons of the development."

Keliher said an amendment allowing denser development at Alameda Point could be on the November 2009 ballot.

If the plan moves forward, SunCal estimates demolition could start in 2010 or 2011, with construction starting a year later. The development could be completed by 2025. It is unclear what would happen next should a ballot measure fail.

The former naval air station closed in 1997. The Navy's current price tag for the land is $108.5 million, although Keliher said he's optimistic new terms can be negotiated.

Correspondent Michele Ellson contributed to this report.