Posts Tagged ‘base redevelopment/environmental cleanup’

The Obama administration is objecting to language in the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill that would extend liability protections for undiscovered contamination afforded developers of installations closed via BRAC to all installations closed after Oct. 24, 1988. The provision essentially would extend the indemnity now provided by Section 330 of the 1993 defense authorization bill to bases closed outside of the BRAC process …

The Port of Corpus Christi reached a sales agreement this week with Oxy Ingleside Property Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corp., for 816 acres at the former Naval Station Ingleside and an adjacent parcel for $82.1 million. Closing on the sale is expected to take place in August. The sale covers the entire naval station property — except for a 100-acre campus section — along with 435 acres next door …

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority approved three loans totaling $4.5 million this week to cover engineering and construction costs needed to start renovating the former Fort Monmouth. At the same time, the authority is looking for a broker to attract developers to the 1,200-acre site, reported the Star-Ledger. The authority on Tuesday also approved an agreement to sell land at the post to information management firm CommVault Systems. In March, the authority awarded the firm $8.6 million in incentives to create and retain new jobs at Monmouth. “What we want to do is recreate a community at the base — a community of people living and working at the base, which will bring back tax ratables and jobs to the three communities and the county,” said Caren Franzini, the authority’s CEO.

The Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood of San Francisco received $7.3 million last week for job training and housing assistance courtesy of Lennar Urban, the developer behind the $1.2 billion makeover of the 700-acre site of the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. The check is the first installment of a proposed $37.5 million designated for community benefits …

The Navy’s second attempt to hold a public auction for the former Naval Station Roosevelt Roads ended much as the first, with no suitable buyers. The Navy failed to receive any bids in its latest attempt, which opened in February, the Navy BRAC Program Management Office told 360. Officials still are evaluating their options for disposing of 2,036 acres at the site located on the eastern tip of Puerto Rico …

While the House Armed Services’ Readiness Subcommittee on Friday rejected the Pentagon’s request for two new BRAC rounds, at the same time it called for GAO to review how defense communities that experienced significant mission growth in the past handled the associated strains on their transportation infrastructure, schools, utilities and housing. “Now that the Department of Defense has completed its fifth BRAC round and the potential exists for future infrastructure, force structure and installation mission changes, local communities may once again have to manage potentially significant installation change …

As expected, the draft version of the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill that the House Armed Services’ Readiness Subcommittee is scheduled to mark up today does not include the Pentagon’s request for BRAC rounds in 2013 and 2015. The annual policy bill’s failure to authorize one or more base closure rounds comes as no surprise, as Rep. Buck McKeon, chairman of the committee, and Rep. Randy Forbes, subcommittee chairman, have opposed the request since Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced it in January …

The Horsham LRA completed a legally binding agreement with homeless service providers for a seven-acre parcel on the former Naval Air Station Willow Grove, overcoming the last barrier before it can submit the reuse plan for almost 900 acres of the property to DOD and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The authority completed the mixed use plan last month for the installation located outside of Philadelphia, but it did not submit it because it had not yet reached a final agreement with the homeless groups, reported Warminster Patch. Horsham Township’s next step is to form an implementation LRA that would apply to the Navy for an economic development conveyance, Township Manager Bill Walker told Patch.

The reuse of military installations closed outside of the BRAC process would receive the same liability protections when unknown contamination is discovered as the developers of BRAC sites are provided, under legislation introduced last week by Indiana Rep. Todd Young. Young introduced the Base Redevelopment and Indemnification Correction Act, H.R. 4407, to benefit the former Indiana Army Ammunition Plant in southern Indiana. Concerns about the potential that developers would bear legal liability if unknown contaminants are found at the plant have blocked interest in investing in what is now called River Ridge Commerce Center, Young said …

President Obama designated almost 15,000 acres at the former Fort Ord on California’s Central Coast a national monument on Friday, permanently preserving much of the open space at the closed installation and providing a boost in tourism for the entire Monterey Bay region. “This national monument will not only protect one of the crown jewels of California’s coast, but will also honor the heroism and dedication of men and women who served our nation and fought in the major conflicts of the 20th century …