$1B California naval base redevelopment hits milestones
Alameda, California, is one step closer to seeing a shuttered naval air station transformed into a $1 billion, transit-oriented, mixed-use waterfront property, complete with a new ferry service that will deliver passengers to downtown San Francisco in 20 minutes.
Alameda Point Partners LLC announced last week that, since breaking ground in May 2018, it has completed demolition of 30 acres on the 68-acre Site A, where the project will be built. The group has also finished half of Site A’s first-phase infrastructure including water, sewer, electric, gas, a street grid that maps out bike and transit lanes, eight acres of parks and the ferry’s terminal at Seaplane Lagoon, a remnant of the naval seaplane operations that used to take place there.
The ferry’s dock, fabrication of which is underway, is scheduled for construction this fall.
Developers expect the project to be complete in late 2019 with infrastructure for the first phase of Site A and then the ferry terminal in 2020.
When complete, the development will be a multimodal hub that will provide, in addition to the aforementioned ferry service, bus rapid transit, shuttles connecting to Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) trains and bike and car sharing.
Alameda Point Partners is comprised of Trammell Crow Residential, a division of Dallas-based Crow Holdings, Los Angeles developer Cypress Equity Investments and srmERNST Development Partners, which is based in San Francisco. The group completed its purchase of the former Naval Air Station Alameda site in March 2018.
This is one of many projects seeking to give new life to abandoned or outdated military bases, The New York Times reported. Other redevelopment projects include turning San Francisco’s Presidio into a National Park Service property and converting old airfields into office complexes and e-commerce logistics centers.
Included in the first phase of the Site A project in Alameda is:
- Block 6, which was purchased by Trumark Homes and will see construction begin on 64 townhomes this summer. KTGY Architecture + Planning designed the project and will serve as executive architect.
- Block 7, pending the sale of the property to Trumark, which will be home to 60 townhouses. DLR Group|Kwan Henmi is the concept design architect, and the executive architect is KTGY.
- Block 8, which saw Eden Housing break ground on 60 units of senior housing this month and will eventually offer a total of 130 affordable housing units. KTGY is the designer.
- Block 9, which will feature 200 market-rate residences in an amenity-rich community designed by Pyatok Architects and provide views of Seaplane Lagoon and San Francisco. This part of the project will also include 10,000 square feet of retail and commercial space. The general contractor is James E. Roberts-Obayashi Corp.
- Block 11, which will eventually offer 220 market-rate apartments and 15,000 square feet of retail and commercial space, all of which will be built across the street from Seaplane Lagoon. It is being developed by Trammell Crow, in partnership with Cypress Equity. BAR Architects is the designer.
Alameda Point Partners plans to secure the rest of Site A and proceed with the second and third phases of the project, which will eventually include a hotel and more commercial space.