That city’s council to have study session on options for uses, development

North Mare Island in Vallejo is a 150-plus-acre waterfront site with the potential for denser development of industrial, office and commercial uses.

So says Vallejo City Council, which will meet in a study session Thursday to examine the responses received from its request for qualifications. The public has been invited to hear the presentations of concepts potential contractors are proposing for North Mare Island.

“The entire meeting will focus on North Mare Island and provide opportunities for public comment,” according to an announcement made by the city. However, “No action to determine a developer for North Mare Island will be taken at this meeting.”

Vallejo is seeking qualified developers and anchor users for all or part of the 1.2 million square feet of land that has entitlements in place for light industrial and business park uses.

The site already has undergone remediation to it can meet industrial use standards, and infrastructure plans already are in place, officials have said.

Other job-creating projects that help the city meet its goals of job generation and increase in fiscal benefits may need additional approvals, the city’s notice said.

Like the rest of the island, the 150-acre site once was part of the former Mare Island Naval Ship Yard (MINSY), the first United States naval base established on a Pacific shoreline.

Vallejo currently owns 125 of those acres, and an additional 30 acres will be transferred by the Navy by 2017. Until then, the Navy is responsible for restoring soil conditions to make the land suitable for business park use, the document said.

Through the years until its closure in 1996, MINSY became the premier West Coast submarine port and was the primary Bay Area force in shipbuilding during World War II. When the closure initially was announced in 1993, Vallejo prepared a reuse plan and signed pacts with the Navy for early transfer of 3,477 acres of the island.

In 2002, Vallejo transferred 653 acres to Lennar Mare Island. That company has mapped subdivisions, rehabilitated buildings, replaced and added infrastructure, sold and leased commercial properties and built new neighborhoods.

Since the Navy’s departure, the island has become home to more than 100 companies, Touro University, which has a campus of more than 1,400 students, and a golf course. In addition, the Forest Service, Veterans’ Affairs Administration and Army Reserve received portions of Mare Island as federal transfers, and other sections have been protected as wetlands and dedicated for open space use.

In his invitation to potential applicants, Mayor Osby Davis wrote that Vallejo’s economy “is on a noticeable upswing, particularly after emerging from bankruptcy in 2011 as well as the recession.” Property and sale taxes are providing the city with more revenue, and area companies are reinvesting and expanding locally, he said.

“The city has a renewed commitment to business and economic development,” he said. Voters approved a 10-year sales tax increase and more than $2 million has been dedicated to demolition and removal of old Mare Island buildings “to clear the path for development,” Davis wrote.

Mare Island’s companies alone provide 2,300 permanent and full-time jobs in the city, and in the past year more than 20 new or existing businesses have expanded into 200,000 square feet of space and added 130 more full-time jobs.

Davis told potential developers that Vallejo’s ferry recently broke ground on a new docking area that will transport passengers to and from Mare Island, and he said the city-owned site “is poised to capture more of the Bay Area’s market growth.”

The request document told potential contractors that the site is approved for office, research and development, light industrial and commercial uses, and that Vallejo also would consider other uses, such as destination commercial, hotel and other job-generating uses.

While residential uses won’t be encouraged, the document said they would be considered if the project as a whole meets the city’s economic and fiscal goals.

The site is described as “the largest development opportunity” not only on the island, but in Vallejo. Of those that responded to the city’s request, eight are under consideration from Dimeling, Schreiber and Park, Philadelphia; Mare-Tech Development, San Francisco; Regal Financial and Development Corporation, San Francisco; Earthquake Protection Systems, Vallejo; NMI Development; Elem Indian Colony, Lower Lake; Koi Nation, Lower Lake Rancheria; and Friends of Mare Island/PGI Development.

While details of those responses have not been released, city officials have said they range from an office and industrial business park to a mix of office, retail and hospitality, including a convention center, as well as tribal gaming.

City Manager Dan Keen has said Vallejo’s council may receive a staff recommendation before the end of the year, and that contracts could be signed as early as January.

The meeting will take place at 6 p.m. Thursday in Vallejo council chambers at Vallejo City Hall, 555 Santa Clara St., Vallejo.

Those interested may view the responses to the city’s invitation at www.ci.vallejo.ca.us/NorthMareIsland.