http://www.nola.com/politics/index.s...k_to_turn.html
The Navy has permission from Congress to give to the Algiers Development District board 156 acres at the Naval Support Activity, which will be converted to mixed-use development under the federal city plan.
The provision was included in the 2011 Defense Authorization Act, a $725 billion measure Congress approved last year which President Barack Obama signed into law Jan. 7. About $147 million is included for defense-related construction and land acquisition projects in Louisiana, including $16.3 million for a new air traffic control tower at the Naval Air Station-Joint Reserve Base in Belle Chasse.
While the secretary of the Navy has the authority to give the land to the Algiers board, the transfer isn't expected to happen soon, officials said.
"There really is no time line," said state Rep. Jeff Arnold, D-Algiers and the district board's chairman.
The Navy has not expressly said it will give the Naval Support Activity land away, but Arnold said that in 2005, the Navy declared the property surplus and recommended the base be closed. A federal commission overruled the recommendation and allowed state and local officials to develop federal city with Marine Forces Reserve as the anchor tenant.
Under federal law, the Marines must be in their new facilities in Algiers by Sept. 15, which is the deadline for all base closure and realignment decisions made in 2005 to be completed. That also means the Navy secretary cannot authorize the land's fee-simple transfer before then, said retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. David Mize, who is helping spearhead the federal city project.
"It's not going to happen any time soon," Mize said of the transfer. "It's great news for us. We worked hard to get that provision in there. The whole delegation supported us."
The district board has a 75-year lease with the Navy for the federal city project. Should the Navy secretary decide to convey the land, the district board would still have to lease the 29 acres that make up the Marine Corps Support Facility, New Orleans, at Opelousas and Hendee streets, and land on which family housing sits.
But Algiers Development District board ownership would make redevelopment of the base into a mix of business and residential uses easier, Arnold said.
"It will allow us to do things with the property as the owner that you couldn't do with a lease," Arnold said.
In announcing $147 million for Louisiana projects in the defense authorization act last month, U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu's press office incorrectly claimed the bill included $16.3 million "to facilitate the growth and expansion of federal city."
In fact, the $16.3 million is for the Navy's new air traffic control tower in Belle Chasse, Landrieu's press office said in a revised press release that does not mention the federal city project.
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