Major Reuse Projects Gaining Traction in Bay Area

A large chunk of land at an under-performing racetrack on the Peninsula is going through the permitting process for residential construction. Meanwhile, planning and construction activities are ramping up at two former military bases.

By J.T. Long

In the Bay Area, where land values are high and commutes are long, "infill" has become a palatable concept and a lucrative business.

From Horses to Houses

San Mateo-based Bay Meadows Land Co. is gambling that residents are ready to live closer to work and each other and is in the permitting process to turn 85 acres of the under-performing Bay Meadows racetrack in San Mateo into 135,000 sq. ft. of retail and 1,250 homes.

All of that will be clustered around a proposed Caltrain station as phase two of an infill project that has even received the blessing of the Sierra Club.

The second phase of the re-development of the Bay Meadows racetrack in San Mateo includes 135,000 sq. ft. of retail and 1,250 homes (rendering courtesy of Bay Meadows Land Co.).

"Infill is becoming an attractive counterweight to suburban growth from a consumer and environmental perspective," said Gary McIntyre, BMLC's executive project manager. "It is the only sustainable approach. There is only so far out you can go from the economic center."

McIntyre credits population and land value pressures along with demographics and changing consumer attitudes for the appeal of denser living. "Younger consumers want the ease of suburban living with urban amenities like restaurants," he said.

Phase one, Park Place at Bay Meadows, was completed in January 2003, and was a mixed-use development that took the place of the former Bay Meadows practice track.

The seven-acre site is anchored by a 38,000-sq.-ft. Whole Foods Market, 21,000-sq.-ft. Gold's Gym and approximately 26,000 sq. ft. of other restaurant and service-related tenants. Gensler was the architect and Swinerton Builders was the general contractor. Both firms are based in San Francisco.

Phase two, which was approved by the San Mateo City Council in early November, will include 15 acres of parks. Home prices will range from $400,000 for a studio to $900,000 for a three-bedroom home with a small yard.

McIntyre said Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design principals will be stressed, including green building standards, water-quality measures, pedestrian/bicycle routes and the transit village concept by way of a Caltrain station.

"It is model transit-oriented development," McIntyre added. "It helps preserve the outlying areas and the coast."

But infill redevelopment, especially in the San Francisco Bay Area, is not easy, McIntyre said, pointing to the fact that the project is in the fifth year of the entitlements phase and it might be three more years before construction begins.

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"Infill has its challenges-neighbor issues, tear-downs, higher levels of scrutiny," he said. "It is more time-consuming, but it is also the socially responsible thing to do and it can be a good investment."

From Guns to Roses

Meanwhile, Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based Lennar Corp. is the lead developer on two major Bay Area military base reuse projects-Hunters Point Shipyard and Mare Island.

The Hunters Point project in San Francisco, a 500-acre former Navy shipyard, broke ground in April with the demolition of aging military buildings to make way for 1,238 homes, mainly two- and three-bedroom townhouses that take advantage of the views based on the site's location on the bay.

The site will also include 30,000 sq. ft. of commercial space and 34 acres of open space.

Lennar, which is working with Bayview Hunters Point Partners as the project's developer, hopes to complete phase one-66-acres of infrastructure improvements for new sewer, gas and electric connections-early this year and begin on phase two immediately.

The timing mirrors the Navy's $350-million cleanup schedule, which was necessitated prior to development.

"With military base reuse, the challenges are numerous," said Jason Keadjian, Lennar spokesperson. "In addition to environmental and infrastructure needs, we have to coordinate with local reuse authorities and state and federal agencies."

He said Lennar was chosen because of its expertise with large-scale adaptive developments.

At Mare Island in Vallejo, Lennar and commercial partner LNR Property Corp. (LMI Partners LLC) are working with a group that was originally called the Mare Island Future Committee. The community group created a reuse plan that focused on recreating the 10,000 jobs that were lost when the Navy site closed in 2002.

"We are implementing that plan," Keadjian said.

LMI Partners LLC has already sold out two neighborhoods and is close on a third. Today, a total of 2,000 people work at 80 businesses on the island.

The project will eventually include 126 single-family homes along with 1,200 town homes, flats and lofts arranged in four distinct neighborhoods. The site will also house 7 million sq. ft. of commercial, including a waterfront promenade with a grocery store, cafes, galleries and a future ferry terminal.

Recreational areas will include a wildlife refuge and a refurbished 18-hole golf course.

"This is a long-term commitment," Keadjian said. He estimated that the development will take 10 to 15 years to complete.

SWA Group of Sausalito designed the community with an eye for economic stability and historic preservation. As the first naval yard and ammunition depot on the Pacific Coast, buildings date back to 1852. A number of buildings are being retained and a museum tells the history of the shipyard.

"The progressiveness of the reuse plan was its simplicity," Keadjian said. "It utilized existing land designations, making the transition more efficient."

For instance, the submariners' barracks has been refurbished and is now 100 percent leased as office space. Officers' quarters will be homes and industrial areas will stay industrial.

"It is just an ideal location," Keadjian added.

The businesses that have chosen to locate on the island are diverse. New employers include an osteopathic university, a boat manufacturer and a seismic isometric bearing maker.

Although the challenges of military base reuse are numerous, Keadjian said the benefits include that "we can plan an entire large-scale community in an urban environment rather than going neighborhood to neighborhood in a piecemeal way."