Lennar Asks Vallejo For Help At Mare Island

Lennar Asks Vallejo For Help At Mare Island
By SARAH ROHRS/Times-Herald staff writer
Article Launched: 03/19/2008

Lennar Mare Island officials asked for the city's help in assuring Mare Island realizes its potential as a commercial and jobs center - an appeal made during a nearly two-hour City Council study session Tuesday.

Council members also urged the city to aggressively pursue economic development opportunities on Mare Island, and to designate a point person for Lennar to work with to expedite permitting and resolution of various issues.

"It behooves the city to provide all the help that they can," said Councilman Hermie Sunga.

Mare Island vice president of commercial development Wanda Chihak agreed there is a sense of urgency. "The more delay there is the more the potential (is diminished) to make money off Mare Island," she said.

Efforts to draw in more businesses are being slowed down by lengthy environmental clearances and Naval land transfers, said Lennar Mare Island vice president Tom Scheaf.

Some vital infrastructure improvements, including the rehabilitation of Azuar Drive and Railroad Avenue, are also being hampered, Scheaf said.

He asked for the city's help to encourage the state to swiftly sign off on the clean-up projects, and for the Naval to transfer key parcels of land slated for new businesses.

"We will need the city's help to continue at a high rate and to put pressure to bear on getting the (land) transfers complete," Scheaf said.

Lennar has drawn in 90 businesses and about 2 million square feet of commercial uses since 1997, company officials said.

In the same time frame, some 2,036 jobs have been created, including 124 new jobs stemming form 9 new businesses created in the last year, said Mare Island vice president of commercial development Wanda Chihak.

The goal has been to generate approximately 10,000 new jobs on the island, Assistant City Manager Craig Whittom said.

However, Lennar has utilized all the immediately available commercial space and needs to get into new areas to attract more businesses, said Lennar spokesman Jason Keadjian.

To help speed things up, council members directed City Manager Joe Tanner to identify a main point person at City Hall for Lennar officials to work with rather than trying to resolve issues with staff members in three or four departments.

Tanner told council members Whittom had been devoting a significant amount of time on Mare Island issues, but was pulled off to work on the city's fiscal crisis, threat of bankruptcy and labor negotiations.

Tanner said it is hoped Whittom could return to Mare Island duties soon. In the meantime, it was suggested Tanner serve as Lennar's main go-to person.

Whittom said several top city department employees devote part of their time to helping push Mare Island projects along. He said city should have a renewed focus on Mare Island.

Citing frequent complaints about City Hall slowing down new business, Mayor Osby Davis urged staff to find a way to jump start economic projects on Mare Island, even if it means big sacrifices.

"We're going to have to do something to change it. We can't sit back and just talk about it. It's time to stop talking and start doing," Davis said.

Council members also sharply questioned Lennar about its plans to halt railroad activity on the island by the end of the month.

Chihak said rail activity has dropped greatly - from 1,575 cars in 2003 to 90 cars in 2007. She added it was too expensive to fix up the tracks and related facilities to meet governmental standards, and that Lennar was worried about assuming liability for rail accidents.

All rail lines are scheduled to be removed when street infrastructure projects are done, Chihak said.

However, Councilman Tom Bartee said he believes the city is missing out on many opportunities by not helping to assure rail lines remain on the island and become part of an inter-modal transit system.

Council members also asked for regular public updates on Mare Island reuse activities, and directed staff to return April 15 or April 22 with a detailed plan on how the city will be working work Lennar on economic development activities.

• Contact Sarah Rohrs at srohrs@thnewsnet.com or 553-6832.