THE BAY AREA | Projects from San Francisco's Surrounding 8 Counties

[timbad]

and even more on Mare Island from Dineen and the Chron

Developer and winemaker Dave Phinney imagines that Vallejo’s Mare Island will one day have as much bustle and busyness as it did during World War II.

Phinney, a partner in the Nimitz Group, which is charged with redeveloping Mare Island, envisions an island with “tens of thousands” of new housing units and upward of 1,000 businesses. There will be schools — possibly a college campus — and copious waterfront parkland. As many as 60 historic buildings will be lovingly restored. It will be bike- and pedestrian-friendly. Water taxis and ferries — the island already has ferry service — will whisk residents and workers to San Francisco and elsewhere.

...

Phinney said that he wants to create a “heterogeneous community,” rather than a “mono-culture.” The goal is to “create a community that’s sustainable at multiple levels, not just environmentally sustainable.” He said the development would be half housing, half other uses.

It’s unclear when the group’s first foray into housing development will start — Nimitz Chief Operating Officer Nathan Bergeron said it could be anywhere within “12 to 24 months.” ...

... Nimitz is focused on denser development. Bergeron said that the relatively low-density Lennar plan is not something his company would have proposed. .... Bergeron said. “Lennar was creating almost a commuter island, whereas our long-term vision is more of a live-work situation.”

... Lennar had completed remediation on most of the island — out of 854 parcels, just 10 still need to be cleaned up. He hopes to have the cleanup completed and signed off on by regulatory agencies by late next year.

Mare Island has a history of being used for filmmaking, ...Phinney said he is focused on creating a place that attracts the movie industry. ...

The federal government has also designated the island as an “opportunity zone,” ... allows investors to get a reduction in the capital gains tax if those gains are invested into low-income neighborhoods.

Phinney said opportunity fund investors have shown interest. He said “some of the biggest names in Wall Street have identified Mare Island as the No. 1 opportunity zone in America.”...

Mare Island has advantages that other former military properties around the Bay Area lack. It’s already got a vibrant business community and dozens of historic brick buildings that could be used for hotels, residential lofts or other kinds of uses, Matzke said.