Vice Mayor Daysog Takes On SF Chronicle Editorial Board Over Alameda Point

By Tony Daysog

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Converting a Navy Base -- With a View New development, housing for poor can both work San Francisco Chronicle (February 10, 2000)

ALAMEDA POINT is a 2,000-acre area on the western edge of Alameda, an island city across the estuary from Oakland. Its sweeping views of San Francisco and the bay inspire local residents' and developers' imaginations alike and fuel confidence in the eventual transformation of the former Naval Air Station.

Whether Alameda Point can fulfill its vast potential depends in large part on how residents, planners and local officials work together on one of the critical early steps toward redevelopment -- a 50-plus acre area of abandoned Navy housing where city officials want to see new market-rate homes.

Given the regional housing crisis, it is understandable why The Chronicle would urge in a recent editorial that Alameda officials instead should "re-examine their tentative decision to raze 600 affordable homes" abandoned by the Navy.

But what The Chronicle editorial failed to address was the immense financial challenges involved in converting this former military complex and the role this new housing development would play in jump- starting the conversion process.

The selection of the San Francisco- based developer, Catellus, in early 1998 to develop a portion of Alameda Point was the culmination of a two-year planning process.

That process led to the key strategic decision to replace the Navy units, known as the "East Housing," with new homes. The Alameda City Council's goal was to start building a tax base to help cover the cost of the estimated $186 million of new infrastructure that will be needed at Alameda Point.

The Navy left Alameda with the keys to a dilapidated, toxic-laden and infrastructure- poor site.

In addition, police and fire services cost $3 million annually. At first, the Navy paid for such services, but it is doing so no longer. Other costs include $4 million for a new school; principal and interest that Alamedans are paying on a $15 million utility bond that Alameda issued at the request of the Navy in the 1980s, and an estimated $200 million in toxic cleanup.

Success in these early stages of development, officials hope, will create a collateral effect on the rest of Alameda Point, attracting other businesses and thus increasing needed jobs, lease and tax revenues to pay for many of the above costs.

A coalition of churches, local housing advocates and a nonprofit housing corporation have approached the Alameda City Council with a proposal to purchase the East Housing for $5 million. This coalition wants to rehabilitate the 590 units as a mix of low-income rentals and affordable condominiums. In a nutshell, the matter of what to do with the East Housing comes down to this: if the issue regarding the East Housing were solely about affordable housing, then what this coalition ("Renewed Hope") proposes makes sense.

However, the East Housing must be understood within a broader context involving strategies for mitigating the costs of conversion. In this light, Renewed Hope's proposal falls short of what is needed. Market price for the East Housing land alone ranges between $18 million and $29 million, far above Renewed Hope's offer.

Bear in mind that neither the Navy nor the state is providing any money for Alameda to deal with the infrastructure deficiencies. Are there other affordable housing options on Alameda Point? The answer is a resounding yes.

Alameda Mayor Ralph Appezzato wants to set aside 85 of the new East Housing homes for moderate-income, first-time homeowners -- a level beyond the 15 percent required for redevelopment areas under state law. Also, there remain almost 200 units of unclaimed housing on the west side of Alameda Point that could be used for lower-income housing. In addition, Alameda has already agreed with homeless advocates to make available to them 186 units, far surpassing homeless provisions of other closed military facilities, such as Oakland's Oak Knoll or the Presidio in San Francisco.

Thus, social justice and economic development are mutually compatible pursuits on Alameda Point. Yet for the city to move forward, all of us must first recognize the financial costs in redeveloping Alameda Point. After that, turning arms into plowshares becomes a simpler, albeit expensive task.

Tony Daysog is vice mayor of Alameda.