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Monterey Peninsula Market Report
Rebirth of old Fort Ord features a variety of high-profile projects
By Greg Aragon
 The Monterey Peninsula took a major economic hit when the Fort Ord military base closed in the early 1990s, resulting in the loss of 14,000 military jobs, 3,000 civilian jobs and a negative impact of about $750 million per year to the Central California coastal region.
But with more than $6 billion of new residential and commercial redevelopment construction currently underway on 9,000 acres of the old base, the peninsula is seeing a massive rebirth on the horizon.
“The closure had a considerable effect on our region,” says Michael Houlemard, Jr., executive director of Fort Ord Reuse Authority, the agency in charge of land reuse for the 28,000-acre (45-sq-mi) base.
“But when we are done with the exciting [redevelopment], it will roughly replace what the army had.”
Houlemard says there are about 12 projects in the works in the current construction program. He adds that when entirely complete by 2017, the project will have created about 16,000 local jobs and bring in more than 37,000 new residents to fill more than 12,000 new homes.
The most expensive project currently under construction is the $1.5 billion Dunes at Monterey Bay, located in the city of Marina’s 3,000-acre portion of Fort Ord.
 Covering 329 acres, the project calls for the construction of a mixed-use village center with 1.5 million sq ft of office, commercial and retail space; 1,237 new homes, townhouses and apartments; and up to 500 rooms in two new hotels.
Construction began last spring on 450,000 sq ft of retail, with stores such as Target, REI, Kohls and Best Buy. Entire build-out is expected in 12 to 15 years.
Other big projects on the Fort Ord site include the $300 million Cypress Knolls, a senior community; the $400 million Marina Heights, with 1,050 housing units; and a massive $2 billion to $3 billion Airport Economic Development Area.
 Doug Yount, development services director for the city of Marina, says the city lost 50% or more of its jobs and about one third of its population when Fort Ord closed.
“This redevelopment is significant for us,” he says. “It will double the city’s population from 20,000 to 40,000 and create between 10,000 and 15,000 permanent jobs.”
Cypress Knolls will see a 712-unit Front Porch senior community on 180 acres. Developed by Cypress Knolls LLC of Marina, the project is currently in architectural drawings by Perlman & Associates Architects and is scheduled to begin construction in summer 2009 and have a six-year build-out.
Construction on the 240-acre Marina Heights is scheduled to start early next year and have a six-year build-out.
The Airport Economic Development Area, located on a 300-acre site, has plans for a 1 million-sq-ft business park, a recreation and entertainment complex and expansion to the city’s existing public airport. Yount says the request for qualifications process will begin this spring.
In the nearby city of Seaside, four large projects scheduled for Fort Ord will help double the size of the city, taking it from 3 sq mi to 9.
One of the largest of these projects is the $200 million Main Gate Retail Center, a 60-acre development with 500,000 sq ft of retail and lifestyle mall operations. It is being developed by General Growth Properties of Chicago and Clark Realty Capital of Arlington, Va. (via its Monterey office). The team is currently preparing the EIR and hopes to break ground this fall with completion by the end of next year.
“Main Gate is designed to draw [shoppers] from as far away as San Jose and San Francisco,” says Sara Isgur, redevelopment services manager for the city of Seaside. “It will change the face of Monterey Peninsula.”
On Fort Ord land given to the county of Monterey, the East Garrison project will sit on 240 acres and feature 1,400 residential units, 30% of which will be affordable.
Developed by a partnership of Urban Community Partners, Woodman Development Co. and William Lyon Homes, the mixed-use project broke ground in January 2007. Sitework is currently underway and houses could start going up in January of next year.
The project includes 100,000 sq ft of artist studios, 75,000 sq ft of commercial space and approximately 50 acres of open space for parks, trails and bike paths.
In the city of Del Rey Oaks, the $550 million Resort at Del Rey Oaks project is being developed by Federal Development LLC of Washington, D.C. Currently in the process of finishing its EIR, the mixed-use project is planned to have two hotels, an 18-hole championship golf course and a retail village.
When the project is completely finished in the next 10 years, it will also feature a variety of housing options, including 20 senior casitas, 36 patio homes, 50 small golf villas, 71 townhomes, 376 condominiums, and 138 affordable units.
“There was a bad need for this project,” says Richard Goblirsch, project manager for Del Rey Oaks. “The city is in a serious financial situation and it will receive a considerable amount of income as this project grows.”
A Touch of Steinbeck
New Cannery Row hotel inhabits author’s stomping ground
By Greg Aragon
 A new chapter in the story of Cannery Row will begin in May with the opening of the $80 million Inter-Continental The Clement Monterey Hotel.
“This is a wonderful redevelopment project for us,” says Chip Rerig, principal planner with the city of Monterey. “It fills a site that was a vacant eyesore within our community in excess of 20 years.”
The 209-room hotel, which is a football field from the Monterey Aquarium, is owned by Pacific Hotel Management LLC of San Mateo. Milpitas-based Devcon Construction is serving as general contractor and architect of record.
HKS Hill Glazier Studio of Palo Alto designed the project. Alamosa Design Associates designed the interior and TM Davis of San Francisco is serving as construction manager.
Set directly on the waterfront boardwalk immortalized by John Steinbeck in the novel “Cannery Row,” the hotel consists of two, four-story buildings a 126,000-sq-ft main building with 111 rooms and a 79,902-sq-ft structure with 98 rooms. The buildings will be connected by an enclosed second floor pedestrian bridge across Cannery Row to a four-level concrete parking garage with 347 spaces.
Guestroom amenities include flat screen televisions, natural wood, imported marble, granite soaking tubs, separate showers and minibars.
Other hotel highlights include 13,000 sq ft of indoor and outdoor meeting and banquet space; 5,500 sq ft of ballroom space; 18,500 sq ft of retail space; library; onsite spa with five treatment rooms, fitness center and outdoor pool; and the 95-seat “C” Restaurant and Bar, which will serve seafood and steaks.
One of the project’s biggest selling points is its panoramic ocean views. To achieve the best of these vistas, it was necessary to construct half of the main building over the water, which proved no easy task.
“The big challenge for us was building over the water while at the same time being careful with the wildlife of the area,” says Miliarist Velasquez, project manager for TM Davis. She says the California Coastal Commission strictly monitors construction around local sea life, such as seals.
Kress Fischer, TM Davis’ project director, said the hardest part of construction was installing the 39 precast concrete columns into a seafloor dominated by powerful fluctuating tides. “It was quite an exercise because we could only put in foundations in the lowest of low tides, so timing the footings was a big challenge,” he says.
Craig Tucker, Devcon project manager, says environmental concerns meant crews could not use false work in the shallow water.
“We had to figure out how to pour footings that are under the water most of the time -- without getting concrete in the water or the bay,” he adds.
To do this, he says workers built precast pieces and “at low tides, we dug footings in three- hour windows” between the tides and swells.
“We learned a lot about the tides, and ran in and out at all times of the day, beating the tides and pouring concrete in holes,” Tucker says. “It took us about three months to get all the footings in.”
The project broke ground in August of 2006.
The hotel is located on the site of an old fishing cannery, in the exact area written about by Steinbeck in his 1945 novel. In fact, the hotel stands only 6 ft from the historic Ed Ricketts structure often mentioned in the book.
Rerig says the hotel design recaptures the romantic look and feel of the cannery industry as told by Steinbeck.
“It ties in to our cultural and historical past as well as to contemporary additions, such as the [Monterey] Aquarium,” he says. “And architecturally it fits in well with what was traditionally down there, which was large building masses, punctuated with punched window openings and a quasi-industrial feel.”
The Project Team
Owner: Pacific Hotel Management LLC, San Mateo
General contractor/architect of record: Devcon Construction, Milpitas
Architect: HKS Hill Glazier Studio, Palo Alto
Interior designer: Alamosa Design Associates, San Francisco
Construction manager: TM Davis, San Francisco
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