City of Alameda poised to sell four commercial buildings on Alameda Point

Former naval station to see “transition of more than a full city block to private ownership”

City of Alameda Looks to Sell Commercial Buildings At Former Naval Base

A photo illustration of Base Reuse and Economic Development Department director Abby Thorne-Lyman along with (Getty, Alameda Point, City of Alameda)

The city of Alameda is poised to sell four commercial buildings on Alameda Point to raise money to pay for an estimated $700 million in infrastructure for new businesses and homes.

The East Bay island city is readying for sale Buildings 92, 101, 114 and 607 at a former 1,000-acre naval air station, the San Francisco Business Times reported. Asking prices for the properties were not disclosed.

The property sale is part of a site-by-site approach to the city’s commercial buildings at the former Naval Air Station Alameda, selling some and leasing out others, to fund infrastructure.

“You’re going to see a lot of properties go on the market this year,” Abby Thorne-Lyman, director of the Base Reuse and Economic Development Department, told the Business Times. “We’re basically going to have a transition of more than a full city block to private ownership.”

The properties to be sold include Building 92, now leased by the Alameda Food Bank. The nonprofit agency is planning to buy Building 607. 

The city wants to put Buildings 101 and 114 up for sale this year.  

Alameda also seeks a long-term lease for Building 41 before listing it for sale, as the Navy still needs to convey the building to the city, according to the newspaper.

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The city’s “case-by-case” strategy, unveiled in March, aims to lease some buildings and sell others after recommendations from real estate consultant Keyser Marston Associates.

The approach, KMA said, would help hasten redevelopment of the military base, as well as raise capital for infrastructure improvements and bring in private investment from buyers of commercial properties. 

The city had already sold a few commercial buildings in the reuse district prior to its new approach, which helped generate $30 million in infrastructure improvements.

The city has been working for nearly a quarter of a century to redevelop the area into a mixed-use community, working with developers to bring in residential projects and commercial tenants like Astra Space, according to the Business Times. Alameda officials want 5.5 million square feet of commercial space and 1,425 homes developed on 878 acres of Alameda Point.

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More than 2 million square feet is now occupied by commercial tenants, with more than half working in green technology or maritime uses.

Alameda plans to sell the cluster of buildings on the east side, while leasing buildings on the west side of the former base, Thorne-Lyman said. She said renting Building 24, the former site of Rock Wall Winery, and Building 11, a site near the Seaplane Lagoon, are a “top priority.”

— Dana Bartholomew