Post-closure Uses
After the base closed on 25 April 1997, the USS Hornet (CV-12) was given to the former air station to be used as a museum ship, the USS Hornet Museum.
The television series MythBusters often conducts its more destructive experiments on the grounds of the station (which it refers to as the "Alameda Runway"), due to the extensive safety zone which it provides. For the same reason, this location has been used as a checkpoint for the Bullrun rally race; the lengthy airstrip allowed for the staging of a challenge involving chasing a semi-trailer.
A two-mile freeway loop was constructed on the base for the filming of a lengthy car chase sequence for the movie The Matrix Reloaded. The loop cost over $1.5 million to construct and was used solely for shooting the film's chase scenes (a seven-week long process) before it was demolished. The route is still visible on aerial photography on the former 07/25 and 13/31 runways. As of November 2011 an aerial view on Google Maps shows one of the runways being used for a simulated airliner crash for the TV series Trauma.
Since 2000, the City of Alameda has been planning the redevelopment of the former Naval Air Station, now known as Alameda Point. Complicating the redevelopment are several constraints: land-use constraints consisting of Tidelands Trust; soil and groundwater contamination; wildlife refuge buffer requirements; geotechnical issues; 100-year flood plans; institutional and contractual constraints with Alameda Measure A, the Alameda Naval Air Station Historic District and existing residents and leases.
In August 2001, Alameda selected Alameda Point Community Partners (APCP) as the master developer for the property. APCP was a partnership of financier Morgan Stanley, Shea Homes of Livermore, Centex Homes of Dallas and the Industrial Realty Group. The development was estimated to cost $2 billion and take 15 years to complete. Alameda Point Community Partners was selected over Catellus and Harbor Bay/Lennar, and signed a two-year exclusive negotiating contract as the property’s master developer. By 2005, only Shea Homes and Centex Homes were working on redevelopment plans, and a Preliminary Development Concept called for building 1,700 homes on the site. In July 2006, the City of Alameda and the Navy agreed to a $108 million purchase deal. In September 2006, APCP decided that it would not move forward with the development plan identified in the Preliminary Development Concept and withdrew from the project.
In May 2007, the City selected SunCal Companies as the master developer from a field of five applicant firms that sought to develop 770 acres (310 ha). In July 2007, the City and SunCal entered into an exclusive negotiating agreement as SunCal began to gather community input and develop preliminary plans.
In August 2010, the Alameda City Council voted to terminate the exclusive negotiating agreement with SunCal and halt its proposal for the former Naval Air Station. Various reasons were cited in the staff report leading up to the vote, including the developer- and city-initiated ballot measure related to the project that was defeated in February 2010 by a margin of 85%.
Read more about this topic: Naval Air Station Alameda