“We will not abandon this plan and this city.”
They’ve invested quite a chunk of change in this development and it’s good to see they’re showing dedication. Make no mistake, they’re dedicated to a profitable end project, but what business isn’t? At least we know where they stand. I can’t say that much for the Mayor or the City Council.
Let’s call a spade a spade and a developer a developer. They’re in this to develop the land and make a profit in the process. Why is this a surprise to people? The City knows this full well, so they should get to the table and make their demands. If I was at that table, here’s what I’d be ranting and raving for:
- A school.
- What was their line again? Make the developer pay? Well, make ‘em pay for a school.
- No amenities cap.
- 200 million in amenities is quite a promise, but apparently not enough to cover the deliverables in the plan. So, remove the cap.
- Affordable housing.
- These words strike fear in heart of all East Bay residents, but the sad truth is we need it. Only single family units aren’t workable on Alameda Point. Let’s not be so scared of a few condos and apartment buildings.
- TRANSPARENCY.
- Yes, I used caps lock on purpose. Let’s make SunCal release all documents to the public. And the City. And the Navy.
What do you think?
i totally agree
ReplyDeleteeither they are going to bbq or mildew!
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FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2009
Alameda To Hold Election on Naval Air Station Development at Alameda Point
News is coming in that the election season has started early in Alameda this year and it looks like islanders are finally going to get a chance to make something exceptional happen out at the city’s run-down old Navy base.
The backers of a plan to clean up and reuse the old Naval Air Station at Alameda Point today submitted the initiative language to the city. Now they will start collecting signatures to place the plan on the Nov. 3 ballot.
This is frankly great news for Alameda. That old Navy base has sat unused and neglected for a long, long time. Finally a plan that someone can pay for is coming forward to get the place cleaned up and ready for real public use again.
A lot of ideas have come and gone out there, but this is the only one makes any damn sense at all.
Look, this has been a long time coming and I’m sure voters are going to get an earful from professional nimby’s who will oppose anything that even resembles a plan that could actually be achieved. And see my video for the real story.
The problem with that mentality is that, like it or not, without a viable plan this site will either continue to deteriorate and be blight on the City, or it will be sold off piece by piece and developed haphazardly.
This plan will work for people who live in Alameda. It will certainly be a benefit to the East Bay by creating jobs, new parks, a huge new sports complex, a new ferry terminal and new public transit connections, new trails and new access to areas that have long been fenced off and off limits to anyone not in a white suite.
It is too easy to oppose something in the Bay Area. The hard job is to support something that makes things better. Looks like the Mayor of Alameda has joined the cause—let’s hope sensible people will study the plan and make that same logical choice. It is far better to support something that will clean up the toxic lands, create jobs, bring open space and sports fields to the City, create affordable housing and build better transit connections in the region than it is to hold out for something that can never be achieved.
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Zennie62 on Politics
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Friday, March 27, 2009
Vote For The Alameda Point Development Plan May 19th 2009
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On May 19th Alameda residents will be able to assure the economic future of the City of Alameda by voting for the Alameda Point Development Plan for the redevelopment of Alameda Naval Air Station as planned by the Alameda Base Reuse Committee and its subsequent evolutions to the Alameda Reuse and Redevelopment Commission of today.
The plan consists of a mix of uses and an ambitious plan adding over 4,000 much-needed housing units.
But the most important fact is the plan will mark the begining of the replacement economic development we have worked to achieve for so long.
Opponents point to Measure A as the reason why the plan should be defeated, but the fact is Measure A was passed in 1973 and represents a time when Alamedans were interested in restricting development and maintaining Alameda from people of color.
Those days are long gone.
Now, Alameda needs jobs and the region wants to see The City of Alameda have an economic development project that replaces the closed Naval Air Station. This is that project.
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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 09, 2009
Alameda Naval Air Station - time to redevelop it!
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I took a self-created video tour of Alameda Naval Air Station, and I must say that I'm profoundly disappointed that this once great facility, the economic engine of Alameda when it was open and running, is in what can only be called a horrible state of disrepair.
In other words, it's blighted.
The land that was this great "Aviation Gateway to the Pacific" supports some of the largest buildings I've ever seen in my life. As a member of the first "Alameda Base Reuse Committee", it was our collective dream to see this 1,500 acre monument to America's Military history redeveloped.
Now, after years of not visiting the land as extensively as I did Wednesday, I'm really shocked that basically nothing has been done to improve this property and restore it to economic production.
A remade and expanded trail is not enough. Even SunCal's terrific development proposal, while needed, only covers 700 acres of the property. In a time of serious economic need, using "NAS Alameda" as the center of the rebirth of the Bay Area economy should be a not just a priority, but a cause.
I'm not at all sympathetic to the opponents of the development plans for the station, who want to maintain Alameda's "small town character" because they (with all due respect to them) don't seem to understand that the SunCal idea does not represent "building up" because what's being proposed for resuse is a huge, unused part of Alameda. It's so big, that the new mix of uses could go in and barely - really not - impact Alameda's image.
I could really understand if the proposal was for the "upzoning" of downtown Alameda to allow buildings 40 stories tall, but that's not what this is. Again it's the reuse of a once-proud part of the City of Alameda. In fact, it's replacing a population that was forced out by the Navy's closure decision.
In 1938 Alameda lobbied to get the Naval Air Station; they got it. Over time, Alameda's benefited from it both economically and socially and no one complained that the "small town character" was hampered by its existence. Now, when it and the people who inhabit it are gone, we have people actually complaining that replacing the lost activity would hurt Alameda!
That's nuts.
We need the redeveloped Alameda Naval Air Station now, not later. If you have a chance, visit the grounds. You'll see first hand just how much of a blighted ghost town it is and agree that something should be done.
Posted by Zennie Abraham at 4:29 PM |