Like election campaigns, redevelopment plans for Alameda Point seem to pop up every few years, and like campaign speeches, they need objective analysis to help discern the level of substance beneath the rhetoric.

SunCal submitted a Draft Development Concept Plan to the City on September 19, 2008 in accordance with the Exclusive Negotiating Agreement. The Development Concept Plan is due December 19th. During this fine-tuning phase, HOMES urges everyone in Alameda to read this important Plan and we offer our own in-depth analysis.

The vision laid out in the Plan would, if implemented, result in an exciting, dynamic, diverse, world-class destination that far exceeds the goals of the Community Reuse Plan HOMES is a non-profit citizen’s group dedicated to advocating for the fulfillment of the community’s vision for Alameda Point. This vision, embedded in the Alameda General Plan, speaks of the community’s desire for Alameda Point to embrace the best traditions of existing Alameda while maximizing the unique features of the Alameda Point area as well as ensuring strong economic vitality.

The latest Draft Development Concept Plan for the future of Alameda Point from SunCal is strong on this vision, but needs more information on implementation strategies. The vision laid out in the Plan would, if implemented, result in an exciting, dynamic, diverse, world-class destination that far exceeds the goals of the Community Reuse Plan (encompassed in the General Plan).  The concept has been informed in its development by a number of public input processes, dating back to 1994.  The SunCal plan does a good job of laying out the historical and public participation context of how we arrived at the current plan.

The Plan provides an excellent compilation of the history of the Point and the City’s efforts to reuse the former Naval Air Station. Then it continues with a comprehensive assessment of the physical and regulatory barriers to the development of the area. It offers proposals of how each of these challenges can be addressed while still creating a new neighborhood that, when achieved, should provide a sustainable development for the 21st century and beyond.

This Plan recognizes the strength of mixing housing types and the social benefits achieved by the juxtaposition of rental, condos, and single-family homes, both large and small.

To achieve the goals outlined in the Plan requires providing an entirely new infrastructure system for the 700-acre reuse area and addressing challenging physical constraints. The project must also be profitable for the Developer and the City. All of these conditions require additional density to make the development feasible.   The extremely difficult economic times during which Alameda Point will be built only serve to exacerbate the need for fiscal prudence.

Much of the Plan outlines goals that not only fulfill the Community Vision, but in many cases are truly thoughtful and exciting, such as the section addressing sustainability.

Yet, HOMES finds there are many opportunities for SunCal to offer more details before the Development Concept Plan due date in December.

Background

It recognizes Alameda’s history as a transit-oriented and walkable development, long before these became modern day land-planning phrases.

The Background section of the Plan offers historical and geographical context as well as the opportunities and constraints to development in this uniquely challenging area. It recognizes Alameda’s history as a transit-oriented and walkable development, long before these became modern day land-planning phrases. It also speaks to Alameda’s unique character of embracing small-town living while welcoming of big business. Flood plains, rising sea levels, young Bay mud that easily liquefies, and toxic soil are among the many challenges outlined in this section. Required wildlife refuges and Tidelands Trust areas also put constraints on development.

And then, of course, there’s Measure A. Many of the constraints outlined in this section require a specific type of building to overcome them – buildings with enough units to offset the costs of drilling deep pilings to offer stability or commercial buildings at ground level with housing above to ensure contamination-free living for residents. There is also the need for enough density to continue the walkable and transit-oriented type of development Alameda has embraced throughout its history.

How often must it be said that Alameda is not Measure A compliant. The "old" Alameda we all wish Alameda Point to be modeled after and whose traditions we embrace is not found within the constraints of single-family homes on small lots that Measure A requires.

Plan Development

It is always helpful to review the original planning themes that Alamedans developed to guide the redevelopment of the former base, and these are outlined here. This section (page 19) also provides a comparison of the previous plans, including the oft-mentioned Measure A-compliant PDC prepared by former master planner APCP (Alameda Point Community Partners) which, as we all know, withdrew from the project two years ago because of being unable to achieve fiscal sustainability under that Measure A compliant PDC.

The many public input workshops that have led to the current plan submittal are also outlined, offering reassurance that this is a community-developed plan.

Design Principles

This section provides a translation of the themes for the redevelopment that the citizens of Alameda have called for into the building principles that inform the specific design of the neighborhood. These principles form the basis for the Master Plan.

Master Plan

Here is the meat of the Plan where the details of Alameda’s vision for Alameda Point are presented. Exciting possibilities are in this section, such as a state-of-the art sports complex, waterfront opportunities and over 10,000 new jobs. This section also contains many details, from specifics on the proposed sports complex to the reuse plans for individual historic buildings to detailed descriptions of the building types being planned.

Overall, this plan is not Measure A compliant and it is in character - both in terms of scale and function – with historic Alameda.

However, in places the ideas presented in this section are incomplete both in terms of final outcome and how they will be paid for. Here are some comments that HOMES hopes SunCal will address before the Development Concept Plan submission in December.

Introduction

The Introduction to the Plan summarizes the amenities and services, but these need to be critically examined on the basis of who builds them: Who maintains them over time? Who will use them? How will they be programmed? These all have ever-increasing costs and after the development is done, who will pay for these critical services?

Civic and Open Space

Where will civic buildings, like a branch library and post office, go? Will they be in close proximity to City Hall West? Will City Hall West remain at Alameda Point? Or will these facilities go into a community center area or near a neighborhood center?

Historic Preservation and Adaptive Reuse

Preserving more than one of the hangers and the preservation of the Big Whites need to be carefully evaluated. The hangers are monolithic and out of scale and not applicable to most modern businesses, which we need to attract. The Admiral’s House could be a splendid center for new large homes built on large lots. But renovation of major numbers of such buildings and their costs need to be carefully weighed.

Neighborhood Structure

We are pleased to see the inclusion of two new school sites, one elementary, the other not specified.

The neighborhood centers are part of the community vision, but we’d like more detail of the types of services planned, such as a branch library, post office, beauty salons, dry cleaners, or shoe repair shops.

The sports complex is all-inclusive, but a couple of public tennis courts/basketball hoops within the development is desirable.

The "buffer area" is important – it will offer spectacular views that are unlikely to be blocked by other buildings. HOMES suggests considering what it would take to make this buffer area a premier housing site and, in any event, incorporate it into the street grid.

The goal for Alameda Point is to create a transit-oriented community with a strong pedestrian character, where walking distances are the basic measure for successful neighborhood design.

Studies and common sense indicate that a good-sized walking neighborhood has a radius of no more than one-quarter mile so that most of the homes are within a three-minute walk of neighborhood parks and a five minute walk to a neighborhood center.

Diversity of housing encourages a good job/housing balance, allowing many types of workers to live in Alameda Point near their jobs

The Alameda Point Redevelopment Concept Plan speaks of two districts, the Mixed Use Core at the ferry terminal and the Historic Reuse District, in addition to the Collaborative Housing; the North, West, and South Neighborhoods; and the Commercial Campus Area.  What we don’t see in the plans are the multiple use, neighborhood centers within walking distance of most residents.

The Mixed Use Core seems to be of a city-wide scale, primarily offering retail, but could be used as a larger neighborhood center.  With the Historic Reuse District, there is not an obvious central focus of activity.

The Walkable Neighborhood design principles in the Plan say, "A diversity of land uses in close proximity will place housing, retail, schools, recreation, and offices all within walking distances of each other" and "Nodes of compact development will focus housing around transit…."

The refinement of the design principles and diversity of land uses and short distances concentrated in neighborhood centers, necessary to accomplish this, all need to be shown in the Plan.

Building Types

The variety of building types shown in the Plan -- single and multi unit, work/live, attached, detached, varied styles and lot sizes, maximum four story buildings - will accommodate the diverse needs of all segments of our population: singles, families, empty-nesters, seniors, workforce and affordable housing, professionals, first-time buyers, etc., echoing the diversity of housing types and demographics in the existing City.

But the Plan doesn’t seem to mix these different housing types. One of Alameda’s charms is the mix of housing types and the juxtaposition of small and large homes, apartments and condos.   HOMES asks SunCal to ensure that the housing groups have individual variety in order to avoid the "cookie-cutter look" prevalent in the newer developments built in Alameda.

Diversity of housing encourages a good job/housing balance, allowing many types of workers to live in Alameda Point near their jobs, thus decreasing the need for commuting off the Island. Please define how this will be achieved.

And what are the plans to provide a large diversity of architects to meet the need for a variety in design?

Circulation and Connectivity

Much has been made of creating a seamless integration with the rest of Alameda, and the concept plan as presented almost triples the number of access ways into Alameda Point. However, drawing from the lessons of Bayport, it is not so much the roads but what is between the roads that either invites people in or keeps them out. What will be the accessibility to Alameda Point from Main Street?

The flow of the street patterns should be looked at again.  It appears that there are only three visible entrances, and to achieve being "seamless" from one neighborhood to another there need to be many street connections.

Jobs/Housing Balance

A business park component similar to that of Harbor Bay and Marina Village and a strategy for attracting such businesses needs to be intentionally addressed.

There is a disturbing lack of attention in the plan to the need for a jobs/housing balance.  There are sites for business campuses and mention of retail centers, and certainly SunCal seems to understand that a jobs/housing balance is key to economic sustainability, but what seems to be lacking are plans to attract businesses to the area.  A business park component similar to that of Harbor Bay and Marina Village and a strategy for attracting such businesses needs to be intentionally addressed.

Saving those huge hanger buildings is an admirable goal, however they are ill suited to modern business use.  And Alameda desperately needs taxable companies and the jobs they bring.  The two most exciting things in the City recently are Peet’s Roasting Plant and Wind River.  We need more of those, and deliberately planning for ways to attract them is essential to the success of the development and the economic vitality of City.

Maintenance

This is another section HOMES suggests be added to the Plan.

It is great to see the wonderful ideas presented in this Plan, from the huge ratio of open space and recreational facilities to the proposed hiring of a transportation coordinator. But who is going to pay for these costs over time?  Once the developer has completed the project these costs will continue and increase. There is only so much that can be tacked onto the costs of housing. Without an annual source of funding these uses could present a burden for the City and/or these public amenities may fall into disrepair.

Therefore the question of "who pays" should be addressed in SunCal’s next report. Every public agency is strapped for cash and will remain so as costs continue to grow well ahead of revenue. Our ability to build public amenities and maintain them will only become more difficult in the foreseeable future. The next iteration of SunCal’s Plan needs to address this stark reality.

Sustainability Strategies

The green technologies as described in this section appear to embody the newest thinking and techniques to minimize the footprint, provide carbon neutrality and maximize renewable energy. Great detail is given to describing how the use of the land will result in a sustainable development, which is one of the most important elements of this project.

We suspect that retrofitting the older buildings will be an expensive challenge. The City needs to begin now to seek grants for these types of energy efficiency measures.

Although not explicitly stated in this section, many of these sustainable technologies require adequate density to make them feasible and that is a density higher than would be permitted with Measure A restrictions.

Infrastructure Plan

Much of this section concerns very technical descriptions of such processes as site grading, storm drainage and sewage treatment. In these, we commend SunCal for its proposed use of green practices and trust that they know more than we do of the technical aspects of such.

It would appear that the electrical lines will be buried with the "dry utilities." If this surmise is accurate, it would be useful to highlight this for the public. Not to have tree trimmings or storms affecting electricity would be a boon to most neighborhoods.

The last page of this section is entitled "Anticipated Financial Structure of the Plan." Here, we’d like a lot more reassurance.

With the economy nose diving and new construction taking the brunt of it, and with SunCal’s recent halt of several projects, including Oakland’s Oak Knoll (which they assured the community was going just fine until it wasn’t), what kind of assurances can SunCal provide that they will be able to accomplish the plan they have so carefully laid out? And what can the City of Alameda do in terms of timelines, deadlines and negotiating to ensure the eventual success of this project? The community is not privy to the financing strength of the developer, and correctly so. But we must exhort the City team to be extremely careful and ensure the reliability of the financing in these most unusual economic times.

Transportation

The Plan provides a comprehensive menu of many possible ways to address the impact of Alameda Point. It doesn’t include the impact of an additional 1200 plus housing units the City has approved for other developments.  It needs to include those and provide more than a menu. There must be a specific plan that addresses traffic and transportation.

Working with Alameda transit staff and the City of Oakland, such a specific plan and its scheduled implementation must be adopted and agreed to by all affected entities.  The construction of the Plan may be attached to certain development phases and stretch out over several years, but it must be in place and the entities beginning to apply for the grants and other sources of funds that it will take to build it.  We wish to be totally clear that we are not advocating for SunCal to build a transportation system citywide, but a plan must be in place, agreed to and binding on future decision-makers to ensure that it is carried out.

While we find more promotion of a pedestrian and bicycle friendly transportation system, most of the roadways do not support safe bicycling. More Class One bike paths should be built throughout the entire development, not just along open spaces. Walkability is achieved in the central core by increasing density close to shopping, transit, etc. But how will the other neighborhoods achieve walkability? What level of neighborhood services (shopping etc.) will be available in the west neighborhood, historic reuse area, north neighborhood and south neighborhood?

The Plan carries out its message of being pedestrian and bike-friendly with less automobile dependence. While more and more people are walking and biking, many must rely on their cars. Perhaps the proposed style of living at Alameda Point may not appeal to everyone. But the possibilities of a vital new area will be sure to meet the desires of a great portion of our community.

The Path Ahead

In the Plan, SunCal addresses future scheduling milestones to be met. But what HOMES believes should be addressed are the potential potholes in the path to true achievability of this laudable vision.

In adhering to the goals of the General Plan, the concept lays claim to meeting them, but lacks the details showing exactly how they will be met, and herein lays the crux of the problem. SunCal will have limited ability to actually implement much of what they have laid out in the plan. SunCal, as they have pointed out many times, secures the entitlements to development, does the master planning and completes the infrastructure development. Then it sells the land to other developers for the construction of the homes and commercial areas. Much of what makes SunCal’s concept so appealing – diverse housing, utilizing green standards, implementing transit options, etc. - will be the responsibility of whoever does the actual construction.

SunCal needs to provide assurance of how it will manage the accomplishment of these essential aspects of development.

SunCal needs to provide assurance of how it will manage the accomplishment of these essential aspects of development.

In moving forward, SunCal should offer, and the City should require, some mechanism so that responsibility for implementing the vision, or suffering significant penalties otherwise, flows from the end developer back through SunCal, until the plan is fully implemented.

HOMES suggests that SunCal convene Community Task Forces to work with them on the various components. It is one thing to work with specific organizations and individuals, but one is apt to miss the benefit of having other opinions and wisdom provided by community groups.  People are usually generous with their time and the plans will be the richer for it. Our large community meetings have been very helpful, but smaller groups tend to be more effective in developing proposals that fit the community.

Conclusion

The Plan is most appealing and fulfills a goodly part of the community vision. It honors Alameda’s past by reflecting the architecture, housing mix, neighborhood shopping and transit, and historic preservation that is so important to us. It offers exciting sustainable concepts and technologies that make us proud. But we expect that the implementation portion will be discussed in more depth and greatly substantiated by the December deadline and carefully outlined in the subsequent submittals.

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