Title
Annual Review of the Development Agreement for the Encinal Terminals Project. Applicant: North Waterfront Cove, LLC. The applicant is requesting an Annual Review of the Development Agreement for the Encinal Terminals Project between City of Alameda and North Waterfront Cove, LLC. Environmental Determination: Not a project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). No further environmental review is required.
Body
To: Honorable President and
Members of the Planning Board
From: Allen Tai
Planning, Building & Transportation Director
BACKGROUND
The Encinal Terminals property is located at 1521 Buena Vista Avenue, between the Alaska Basin and the Fortman Marina, within the City of Alameda’s (City) Northern Waterfront Priority Development Area (PDA) within the Bay Area’s long-range regional transportation and sustainability community’s strategy (Plan Bay Area). The site is also designated as a multifamily housing opportunity site in the City’s 2023-2031 Housing Element. In 2018, the City Council approved a Master Plan for 589 housing units on the site. Despite being entitled for 589 residential units, the configuration of the property lines between the private and public tidelands parcels makes redevelopment of the property financially infeasible. In 2022, the City Council approved a Master Plan Amendment allowing for the reconfiguration of the site to facilitate a future tidelands exchange.
Alameda Municipal Code (“AMC”) Section 30-95.1 authorizes the Planning Board to conduct a public hearing at which the applicant must demonstrate good faith compliance with the terms and conditions of the agreements. To demonstrate good faith compliance, the applicant has submitted a request for an annual review (Exhibit 1) as required under AMC Section 30-95.1 and Section 10 of the Encinal Terminals Project Development Agreement. The letter summarizes actions that have been taken during the period from the effective date of the development agreement, March 3, 2022, through June 2023.
DISCUSSION
Property Conveyances, State Exchange Agreement and AB 1706: The Encinal Terminals site consists of both public tidelands and private lands that are arranged in an unsuitable configuration for viable residential development. The City Council 2022 approval is based on a reconfiguration of the public and private lands to make the development parcels more suitable. The applicant and the City has since worked closely on a lengthy and complicated process with the State Lands Commission to complete the execution and recordation of the State Exchange Agreement. The State Exchange Agreement was executed and recorded in February 2023 and subsequently the Governor signed AB 1706 in July 2023 to allow the necessary land swap to occur that would make possible 589 housing units, over four acres of waterfront park, and 13 acres of marina. The City and Applicant also began pursuing a validation action, which is litigation to confirm the validity of the State Exchange Agreement, a critical step which will also ensure clear title for future conveyances. This action is expected to be complete in early 2024.
Permits: The Applicant is required meet local, regional, state, and federal permitting requirements necessary to begin site clearing and grading and begin site preparation and construction activities consistent with the Tidelands Exchange Master Plan phasing schedule. Preliminary work is underway regarding the permitting efforts and will continue.
Construction and Maintenance of Public Improvements: The Applicant is obligated to construct and maintain public improvements in the Public Trust as part of the Public Trust Exchange, consistent with the Tidelands Exchange Master Plan and its phasing schedule. including establishment of capital improvement reserves for maintenance of the Public Trust Lands in perpetuity. No work has commenced on this obligation. The maintenance obligation may be assumed by a municipal services district (MSD), community facilities district (CFD) and/or a geologic hazard abatement district (GHAD) or similar financing mechanism. The City and Applicant have engaged in preliminary discussions regarding formation of a GHAD and CFD, and both parties will be working on this over the next year.
Development Timing: The Applicant is processing its obligations to commence and complete development of the project in accordance with the provisions and conditions of the Development Agreement, the Development Plan, the Tidelands Exchange Master Plan construction phasing plan and schedule.
Prior to the issuance of the first building permit for a residential building or vertical improvement, the Applicant must provide a temporary Bay Trail around perimeter of the site for public use, consistent with the Tidelands Exchange Master Plan. Work towards completion of this obligation will occur once site improvement permits have been issued.
Affordable Housing: The Encinal Terminals Project includes the provision of eighty (80) affordable housing units. The Applicant will enter into an Affordable Housing Agreement with the City to ensure the provision of the affordable units. The agreement will encompass ten (10) “missing middle” affordable by design units available to middle-income purchasers making between 120% and 180% of areawide median income.
Universal Design: The Applicant is required to provide housing units that meet the visitability and universal design requirements contained in the City’s Universal Design ordinance, AMC Section 30-18 for at least 50% of the housing units in the project. Work towards compliance with this obligation will occur with the submittal of construction documents for the residential buildings.
Labor Peace Agreement: The Applicant is required to execute an agreement to provide for labor peace prior to the start of any construction. In 2022, Applicant entered into an agreement with the Building Trades Council of Alameda County on a portion of the residential construction that complies with Applicant’s obligations under this section. A future agreement covering the horizontal and commercial aspects of the site will occur prior to commencement of construction.
Reimbursement of City Expenses: The Applicant has been reimbursing the City for its costs on completing the various agreements, and the Cost Reimbursement Agreement was recently updated to extend the Applicant’s obligations to reimburse the City for costs associated with the City’s legislative consultant and for the City costs related to the validation action described above.
Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (MMRP). Compliance with the project MMRP will be closely coordinated with City staff in accordance with the timelines set forth in the MMRP.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Annual review and reporting are exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act.
RECOMMENDATION
Approve the draft resolution (Exhibit 2) accepting the Annual Report and declaring that North Waterfront Cove, LLC has demonstrated good faith compliance with the terms and conditions of the Encinal Terminals Project development agreements.
Respectfully submitted,
Allen Tai
Planning Building and Transportation Director
Exhibits:
1. North Waterfront Cove, LLC Letter dated June 27, 2023
2. Draft Planning Board Resolution