History of Site
In 2000, the City adopted and approved the Redevelopment Plan for the Oakland Base Redevelopment Project, establishing a 1,800-acre redevelopment project area with the former Oakland Army Base (OARB) at its core. The OARB, an approximately 430-acre facility located on the West Oakland waterfront was first commissioned in 1941 as a port and trans-shipment facility. During World War II, it served as a major cargo port and warehousing facility. Up until 1995, the base was active with warehouse uses and approximately 2,040 employees.
In 1995, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended closure and realignment/ disposal of the Oakland Army Base. As part of the base closure process, the U.S. Army prepared an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), consulted with and received approval of a Coastal Zone Consistency Determination from the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC), consulted with the State Office of Historic Preservation regarding cultural resources, and consulted with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) regarding biological resources. The base was officially closed for military operations in September 1999.
Prior to the official closure of the base in September 1999, the Oakland Base Reuse Authority (OBRA) was established to direct the planning process for the future reuse of the OARB. The OBRA consulted with representatives of the West Oakland community, the community that would be most impacted by the closure, and other key stakeholders. The OBRA’s efforts resulted in a Draft Final Reuse Plan for Oakland Army Base (OBRA 1998, as amended 2001), which contains a conceptual vision and broad policy framework for the OARB’s development. (As explained below, a Final Reuse Plan was adopted in July 2002). The Redevelopment Plan incorporates the Reuse Plan and provides a program of redevelopment, rehabilitation, and revitalization of the project area. Objectives of the Redevelopment Plan focused on the elimination of blight and blighting influences, and strengthening the City’s economic base. The Redevelopment Area was divided into the following three sub-districts:
The Oakland Army Base Sub-District, 470-acres, includes the 430-acre Army Base and approximately 40 acres beyond the Army Base.13 The OARB Sub-District is subdivided into two development areas:
o The City of Oakland’s 228-acre Gateway Development Area, generally located in the northwest portion of the sub-district. The Gateway Development Area includes approximately 189 acres of the OARB and several miscellaneous parcels generally located outside of the OARB and north of Burma Road. These miscellaneous parcels are currently owned by the City, the Port, and Caltrans.
o The Port of Oakland’s 241-acre Port Development Area, located in the west and southeast portions of the sub-district. The Port Development Area includes approximately 185 acres of land area from the OARB and an additional 56 acres of OARB submerged land.
· Maritime Sub-District, 1,290 acres owned by the Port of Oakland. This property is separate from the Oakland Army Base, and constitutes the remainder of the gross land area at the Port of Oakland seaport.
· 16th/Wood Sub-District, 41 acres, various private land owners.
· In July 2002, the Final Environmental Impact Report of the Oakland Army Base Area Redevelopment Plan was certified14 and a Final Reuse Plan was adopted by OBRA.15 A broad set of activities was contemplated under the 2002 Reuse Plan and EIR, consistent with the Redevelopment Plan, including warehousing and distribution, retail, office and research and development, truck related activities and other Port related activities. Table 2-1 shows the build out of the Redevelopment Area analyzed in the 2002 EIR.
Concurrently with the actions described above in the City of Oakland, the Board of Port Commissioners adopted the Final Environmental Impact Report of the Oakland Army Base Area Redevelopment Plan in September 2002 as a responsible agency under CEQA. The 2002 EIR evaluated the following developments within the Port Development Area of the OAB:
1) Realign and extend the part of Maritime Street north of 7th Street,16 and
2) Relocate the Port’s Joint Intermodal Terminal (JIT)17 rail facility onto the OAB.
Within the larger Maritime Sub-district, the 2002 EIR considered projects to:
1) Realign Maritime Street south of 7th Street;
2) Widen and grade separate 7th Street, which borders the rail yard to the south, to reduce truck crossing delays at the Maritime Street and 7th Street intersection due to rail movements between the JIT and the Outer Harbor Intermodal Terminal (OHIT) railyard;
3) Expand existing Port marine terminals;
4) Construct a new marine terminal (with 26 net acres of Bay fill) adjacent to Berth 22 (New Berth 21); and
5) Develop a maritime support center for truck parking, container depots, container freight stations, inspection sites and other cargo services.
The EIR is consistent with Port-wide growth in cargo to meet the Port’s share of regional cargo throughput in 2020, as identified in the Seaport Plan ((BCDC and MTC 1996, as amended through 2007).
After the 2002 EIR was certified, the Port conducted a study that looked closely at the balance of maritime facilities (including vessel berths), container yards, and rail yards in the Outer Harbor area. This study determined that “The capacity of the Port is not currently constrained by its maritime facilities. It is constrained by the capacity and performance of the road and rail intermodal connectors. The most effective configuration for the Port of Oakland over the next 15 to 20 years requires an increase in rail yard space, in addition to construction of the 7th Street grade separation.
In August 2006, approximately 170 acres of the former Army Base were conveyed to the Oakland Redevelopment Agency to comprise the Gateway Development Area, and another 200 acres were transferred to the Port. The City of Oakland acquired the Redevelopment Agency’s interest in the former Oakland Army Base and is now planning for the development of approximately 160 acres of City-owned land within the former Oakland Army Base that will be known as the 2012 Oakland Army Base Project. The City of Oakland solicited proposals from master developers for the Cityowned site and in 2009 the joint venture between Prologis and California Capital and Investment Group (Prologis/ CCIG) was selected as the master developer. The Port of Oakland is planning for the development of approximately 168 acres east of Maritime Street, including 164 acres within the OAB sub-district’s Port Development Area, and a 4 acre Port owned parcel along 7th Street within the Maritime subdistrict.
Additionally the proposed development includes an approximately 10 acre area surrounding the 7th and Maritime Street intersection which is also within the Maritime sub-district. The proposed development for both the City-owned and the Port-owned areas will be collectively known as the 2012 Oakland Army Base Project.