Title
PLN25-0030 - Certificate of Approval - 2501 Todd Street, Building 116, Alameda Point. Applicant: City of Alameda. Public hearing to consider a Certificate of Approval for demolition of Building 116, a contributing structure determined by the Chief Building Official to be unsafe to occupy and a public safety hazard, located in the NAS Alameda Historic District. The City of Alameda certified the Alameda Point Final Environmental Impact Report (State Clearinghouse No. 201312043), which evaluated the environmental impacts of redevelopment and reuse of the lands at Alameda Point, including building demolition, subject to certain mitigation measures, which have been implemented. No further environmental review is required for this project.
Body
CITY OF ALAMEDA
HISTORICAL ADVISORY BOARD
CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL
STAFF REPORT
ITEM NO: 4-B
PROJECT
DESCRIPTION: PLN25-0030 - Certificate of Approval - 2501 Todd Street, Building 116, Alameda Point. Applicant: City of Alameda. Public hearing to consider a Certificate of Approval for demolition of Building 116, a contributing structure determined by the Chief Building Official to be unsafe to occupy and a public safety hazard, located in the NAS Alameda Historic District. The City of Alameda certified the Alameda Point Final Environmental Impact Report (State Clearinghouse No. 201312043), which evaluated the environmental impacts of redevelopment and reuse of the lands at Alameda Point, including building demolition, subject to certain mitigation measures, which have been implemented. No further environmental review is required for this project.
GENERAL PLAN: Alameda Point, Mixed Use, Adaptive Reuse Subarea
ZONING: AP-AR (Alameda Point, Adaptive Reuse) Zoning District
ENVIRONMENTAL
DETERMINATION: The City of Alameda certified the Alameda Point Final EIR (State Clearinghouse No. 201312043), which evaluated the environmental impacts of redevelopment and reuse of the lands at Alameda Point, and which recognized there could be significant and unavoidable impacts to historic resources. The EIR contemplated that some historic buildings and resources would be demolished over time. Further, a Navy proposal in 1996 to demolish six buildings, including this one, was reviewed and approved by the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) and the California State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO). The City Council and HAB concurred, and documentation was prepared according to HAB/HAER mitigation standards. Therefore, no further environmental review is required for this project under CEQA Guidelines Section 15183.
PROJECT PLANNER: Steven Buckley, Planning Services Manager
PUBLIC NOTICE: A notice for this hearing was mailed to property owners and residents within 300 feet of the site, published in local newspapers and posted in public areas near the subject property. Staff has not received any public comments on this proposed project as of the publication of this report.
EXHIBITS: 1. MOA and Historical Documentation
2. Legal Opinion re: Building 130
3. Chief Building Official Notice and Order
4. Site Plan and Photographs of Building 116
5. Draft Resolution
BACKGROUND
The City of Alameda, as applicant, is requesting a Certificate of Approval to demolish Building 116, located in the Naval Air Station (NAS) Alameda Historic District at 2501 Todd Street, located at the corner of Todd Street and West Midway Avenue. This request follows events and decisions dating back to the early 1990s when the US Navy was preparing to close and dispose of property at the Alameda Naval Air Station. Background information referenced below is included in Exhibit 1.
In 1992, the Navy completed a historic resources survey for NAS Alameda in preparation for the base closure and eventual transition to civilian use. The survey was the basis for establishing the NAS Alameda Historic District, and it identified Building 116 as a contributing structure to the Historic District.
In 1996, the Navy proposed to demolish Building 116 as well as five other buildings -- Buildings 75A, 115, 130, 135, and 137 - as part of its base closure plan. The Navy’s proposal was subject to review by the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) and the California State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO). ACHP and SHPO both approved the demolition of all six buildings. The Navy also consulted with the Alameda City Council and the Historical Advisory Board regarding the demolition. The ACHP and SHPO approval required photographic documentation of the buildings according to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards as the appropriate mitigation measure for building demolition. The Navy carried out the required documentation in 1998, and the records are archived at the SHPO Northwest Information Center at Sonoma State University.
In 1999, the Navy, ACHP, and SHPO signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), with the City of Alameda signing in concurrence, that stipulated caretaker and building maintenance responsibilities after the transition of Alameda Point to civilian use. By then, Alameda Point had begun its transition to civilian use, but the six buildings had not been demolished. The MOA categorized buildings based on their condition and potential for reuse. The six buildings were assigned Layaway Level 6 - Abandon in Place, which designated the buildings unfit for reuse and prescribed only security measures to prevent unauthorized entry. Over the years, the City allocated minimal resources to preserve these six buildings, anticipating their eventual demolition as part of future redevelopment of Alameda Point.
In December 2024 and January 2025, the City’s Supervising Building Inspector and the Chief Building Official inspected Building 116 and determined its structural integrity to be compromised, partly evidenced by the bulging of the exterior walls as a result of the collapse of sections of the roof. The Building Official determined the building to be unsafe to occupy due to concerns of further structural failure. Under the Alameda Municipal Code, the Chief Building Official has the authority to order immediate demolition of unsafe buildings. However, the Chief Building Official did not order demolition because the building is not in a densely populated area where it would pose an imminent hazard to the public. Instead, it has been securely fenced with a buffer area of more than the building height so that a Certificate of Approval can be obtained and a contract for demolition services can be entered into, including abatement of hazardous materials. (See Exhibit 3.)
ANALYSIS
Building History and Context
Building 116 and the five other buildings designated for demolition by the Navy are distinctly different in architectural design and construction from other architecturally elaborate buildings in the Administrative Core that were built for permanent use. It originally served as a semi-permanent barracks for corpsmen and was converted to a rehabilitation center in the 1970s. It is a simple one-story building with a roughly ‘I’-shaped footprint enclosing about 7,000 square feet with entries on the east and west sides. The building has a flat roof and horizontal wood siding with horizontal grooves, and rests on a board-formed concrete foundation. Fenestration includes two-over-two evenly-spaced double-hung wood windows in wood trim, but otherwise the building lacks architectural ornamentation or embellishment. The building retained integrity to its original construction though it has been unused and boarded up since the Navy’s closure. Building 116 is a representative example of the utilitarian semi-permanent wood buildings constructed on the station during the period of significance (1938 - 1945). Character-defining features include the flat roof emphasizing the horizontality of the buildings found in the Administrative Core and the 2/2 double-hung wood windows. See Exhibit 4 for a site plan and photographs of the building.
Demolition Request
Due to the length of time since the Navy’s actions in the 1990s, the City sought legal advice in 2018 regarding the demolition of Building 130 and verified that the ACHP and SHPO approval, as well as the MOA entered into by the City of Alameda, provide adequate federal and state regulatory clearance for the demolition for all six buildings (Exhibit 2). Furthermore, when title to property located within the NAS Alameda Historic District is transferred from the Navy to a non-federal entity all undertakings affecting these properties will be administered exclusively in accordance with City codes and ordinances. Because demolition did not occur under Navy control, the demolition is instead subject to the Certificate of Approval requirement under the Alameda Historic Preservation Ordinance (AMC Section 13-21).
Due to the current condition of the building, staff recommends the Board approve a Certificate of Approval to demolish Building 116. As documented in the Chief Building Official’s Investigation and Inspection Report (Exhibit 3), the building has deteriorated to the point that it is unoccupiable and a hazard to public safety. It is fenced off from access and posted as uninhabitable and must be demolished. The structural systems, weatherproofing and finishes are such that it is not feasible to rehabilitate the building, and the materials used in its construction, including lead-based and asbestos-containing materials, are a hazard to humans and the environment.
A similar request was made in 2018 when the adjacent Building 130 had a partial collapse and was determined to be unsafe and unsalvageable. A two-story rectangular building with wood siding and flat roof, it was demolished that same year after a Certificate of Approval was approved by the HAB.
The City also owns Building 115, one of the other buildings that were previously-approved in the MOA for demolition and located on the same block as Building 116 and the former Building 130. It was historically used as an ambulance garage and is currently being used by a landscape contractor that maintains the grounds at Alameda Point under contract to the City. It is therefore being maintained by that contractor and remains serviceable in the medium term.
As for Buildings 135 and 137, which were also identified for demolition, the City remains concerned about the safety of those facilities and is coordinating a program of better securing them and ultimately demolishing them in coordination with the owner, the Alameda Unified School District. Requests for Certificates of Approval for those buildings will be forthcoming when funding for such a program is identified.
RECOMMENDATION
Hold a public hearing and approve a Certificate of Approval to demolish Building 116 as set forth in the draft resolution (Exhibit 5).