Posts Tagged ‘BRAC’

FivePoint Communities, the developer of the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, is offering to contribute an additional $631 million to the city of Irvine’s effort to build the Orange County Great Park in Southern California in an attempt to bolster prospects for the housing and commercial development it plans to build there. Under the offer from FivePoint — a spinoff of Lennar Corp., which bought El Toro for $650 million in 2005 — the city would receive $211 million upfront and about $430 million over 30 years …

The Riverbank City Council this week voted to issue a request for qualifications from firms interested in becoming the master developer for the former Riverbank Army Ammunition Plant. The city assumed control of the plant in April 2010 through a no-cost lease with the Army; eventually it expects to own the site, now called the Riverbank Industrial Complex. The reuse plan calls for turning the ammunition plant into a regional industrial park focused on clean energy and green technology …

A California judge has denied a claim by the local redevelopment authorities for the former Norton and George Air Force bases in San Bernardino County, Calif., that they be considered exempt from last year’s law eliminating the state’s 400 redevelopment agencies. Judge Lloyd Connelly ruled in favor of the state in dismissing separate lawsuits filed by the Inland Valley Development Agency, the LRA for Norton AFB, and the Victor Valley Economic Development Authority, the LRA for George AFB …

The city of San Francisco plans to ask state officials to conduct its own investigation of the Navy’s cleanup of Treasure Island, in the wake of a recent report acknowledging that the island was used in the 1940s to repair and scrap ships exposed to nuclear testing in the Pacific. Michael Tymoff, the city’s project director for Treasure Island, said his office is preparing a formal request for the California Department of Public Health to carry out a new study, reported the Bay Citizen. State officials have said the Navy did not conduct a thorough assessment of radioactive contamination on Treasure Island, raising the possibility that it has not identified all of the affected areas. The Navy and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control both say that the island does not pose a health risk to residents. The Navy has said it will continue to work with the state to complete all needed investigations and cleanup.

An environmental group on Monday planned to file a lawsuit in federal court blocking the Navy’s plan to redevelop the Broadway Complex on the San Diego waterfront. The goal of the Navy Broadway Coalition is to alter the Navy’s plan to build a new headquarters, primarily by providing more open space and fewer hotels, reported KPBS Radio. The Navy reached an agreement with a local developer in 2006 to build it new offices in exchange for a 99-year lease to develop the waterfront property, meeting a deadline imposed by the 2005 BRAC Commission for avoiding closure of the site …

The path to a streamlined process for disposing of thousands of unneeded federal properties while raising billions in government revenue is filled with a variety of roadblocks, including competing legislative proposals, opposition over an exemption to a rule intended to benefit homeless groups and overly optimistic valuations of surplus buildings. Later this month, the Senate is expected to debate a proposal introduced by Thomas Carper (D-Del.) that would establish a five-year pilot program for agencies to eliminate excess properties, reports CQ Today …

Officials held a ceremonial groundbreaking this week at Redstone Arsenal for the final phase of a complex that, when completed, will house more than 5,700 professionals working on air and missile defense. The last phase of the Von Braun Complex, scheduled to open in 2014, will provide space for 850 employees of the Missile Defense Agency, reports the Huntsville Times. The complex also houses Army Space and Missile Defense Command …

In a surprise move, the Brunswick Town Council voted this week to call off talks over financing infrastructure improvements at the former Brunswick Naval Air Station through tax increment financing. Early discussions had indicated the financing mechanism would generate $12 million over 30 years for the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority …

The leading proponent of legislation that would create a civilian BRAC commission to expedite the disposal of thousands of unneeded federal properties is pushing the General Services Administration to adopt his proposal, citing this week’s appointment of Dorothy Robyn, DOD’s installations chief, to commissioner of GSA’s Public Buildings Service as a possible first step toward that goal. “We are hopeful that Dr. Robyn’s experience working with the DOD’s BRAC process will encourage greater innovation and cost efficiency within the GSA by utilizing CPRA [Civilian Property Realignment Act] to streamline the process and ensure the effective and efficient sale or consolidation of these properties …

Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire urged defense support groups from throughout the state to work together as state and local officials try to shield Washington’s installations from a future base closure round and looming budget cuts. Groups representing Pierce and Thurston counties near Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Spokane near Fairchild Air Force Base, and Navy communities from Whidbey Island to Bremerton to Everett attended last month’s meeting of the Washington Military Alliance, reported the News Tribune …