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Posted Jul 10, 2009, 6:52 PM
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BANNED
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: San Francisco & Tucson
Posts: 24,088
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Quote:
Friday, July 10, 2009
Tagami group endorsed for Oakland Army base
San Francisco Business Times - by Blanca Torres
The selection of a master developer to redevelop a 135-acre portion of the former Oakland Army Base has reached a crucial point, but could take weeks or months for the Oakland City Council to finalize a decision.
After several rounds of vetting, an 11-member committee appointed by Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums picked a proposal from California Capital Group and AMB Property Corp., led by longtime Oakland developer Phil Tagami, over one that came in from Federal Development and Em. Johnson Interest.
The City Council will review the recommendation next week and could vote by the end of the month. Otherwise, it will take up the issue in September.
California Capital Group and AMB Property Corp. proposed a $572 million logistics, office and transportation project. The other proposal involves a $687 million mixed retail, office, research and development and hospitality complex.
““Our priority was to choose a proposal that complements and supports the (Port of Oakland’s) operations and the competitiveness of the port,” said Karen Engel, economic development director for the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, who served on the review panel. “It is very important that the infrastructure built on the site would be able to house and support companies that could create high-wage jobs.”
The committee included representatives from various business groups, labor unions, citizens groups, the mayor’s staff and the city’s Community and Economic Development Agency.
Engel said the committee came to a consensus early on in its discussions that retail was not the best use for the site.
“The city was very fortunate to have two excellent proposals given what has happened in the economy during the time it’s taken us to go though this process,” Engel said. “The fact that the variety of different stakeholder groups came to the same conclusion is the strongest endorsement.”
Michael Johnson, president of San Francisco-based Em. Johnson Interest, said his group plans to continuing making the case for its proposal at upcoming City Council and community meetings.
“We disagreed with a considerable amount of the conclusions that were in the staff report,” on the review committee’s recommendation, Johnson said. “We felt the report was written in a biased fashion to support our opponent’s proposal.”
Tagami’s team is also the top contender to redevelop the Port of Oakland’s 168-acre portion of the former Army base. His plan has been to combine the city and port’s parcels into one.
“We still have negotiate the deal,” Tagami said. “We’re very encouraged by the staff recommendation … . But, we still have a lot work to do.”
Proposals
Two groups pitched ideas in January for redeveloping the Oakland Army base.
CCG/AMB
Major elements: 506,000 square feet of industrial, loading and logistics space, 397,000 square feet of R&D space, 34,000 square feet of retail, 133,000 square feet for the Oakland Film Center, 205,000 square foot produce market, 1.15 million square feet of Class A office space, 16.5 acres of open space.
Jobs created: 3,288.
Cost: $572 million.
Federal Development/Em Johnson Interest
Major elements: 600,000 square feet of large format and outlet retail, 85,000 square foot entertainment facility, 700,000 square feet of R&D and office, 136,000 for the Oakland Film Center, 215,000-square-foot produce market, 25,000-square-foot art studio and gallery, 12,000-square-foot ferry landing, 30 acres of open space.
Jobs created: 4,266.
Cost: $687 million.
SOURCE: City of Oakland.
btorres@bizjournals.com / (415) 288-4960
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Source: http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/...13/story5.html
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