pages: CityCouncil/2012-05-08.pdf, 3
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CityCouncil | 2012-05-08 | 3 | Councilmember deHaan inquired whether another example is Encinal Terminals, to which the Planning Services Manager responded a draft Master Plan has been prepared for Encinal Terminals to create a plan that the City would approve, but the Plan has not been adopted. Councilmember Tam stated there have been cycles of booms and busts with Harbor Bay Business Park; the Chinese Christian School was never envisioned, as well as the Raiders Headquarters, the hotel, and VF Outdoors; the current Council is lucky to have built on decades of prior work; although the process would be streamlined, she is not sure the code would insulate the City and be flexible enough to deal with boom and bust cycles of the market; the Harbor Bay Business Park took a long time and the developer had to sell. The Planning Services Manager concurred with Councilmember Tam; stated predicting booms and busts of the economy is very difficult; the challenge is to develop a code that has enough flexibility to respond to booms and busts; a great project could come forward and the code could be changed to match the project; noted Harbor Bay Business Park does not have a form based code; form based code would not avoid all future controversy; if the code is done right, the City can do a better job of articulating projects to developers and the community. Councilmember Tam stated the Council asked about development of a leasing strategy; a lot of City subsidies are required for businesses, such as VF Outdoors; businesses are enticed by waivers, transfer tax breaks or discounted electrical rates; when reviewing a leasing strategy, businesses want to know what the City can do to assist with expansion; understanding the leasing strategy is foundational in terms of bonding to do entitlements and paying for improvements; lease lengths differ; inquired whether the City has a handle on leases and whether the revenue stream is sustainable. The Chief Operating Officer - Alameda Point stated the City did not want to extend or amend leases in the potential Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL) location footprint because existing leases would have had to be renegotiated or bought out if LBNL had selected the site; staff is renegotiating longer leases; the terms depend on location; longer term opportunities are being reviewed in the adaptive reuse area; areas where development would start soon have shorter leases; 24 to 36 month leases are being contemplated for the LBNL footprint in the employment area so the City can be nimble enough to take advantage of opportunities; five to perhaps ten year leases are being considered for the eastern side of the employment area since the waterfront area would be developed before the eastern portion; staff is cognizant of areas where development will occur first and opportunities for renegotiating existing leases or entering into new leases; staff is trying to fill and review long term leases for hanger row, which has St. George Spirits and Rock Wall, since it is a buffer zone and the buildings will be there for longer; Keyser Marston is working on an economic strategy, which will address a long term leasing strategy. Councilmember Tam inquired how the strategy correlates to bonding against $12.5 Special Meeting Alameda City Council 3 May 8, 2012 | CityCouncil/2012-05-08.pdf |