Like most Alameda city officials, Abby Thorne-Lyman, the city\u2019s point person for developing Alameda Point, the former Naval Air Station Alameda on the island city\u2019s West End, was caught completely off-guard by a recent Silicon Valley group\u2019s announcement that it plans for part of the area to become a utopian artificial intelligence \u201ctech city.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am pretty stunned,\u201d said Thorne-Lyman, who heads the city of Alameda\u2019s Base Reuse and Economic Development Department, which manages Alameda Point\u2019s redevelopment. \u201cI guess it was a little hard to believe as a concept because we understand all of the constraints and the visions for that space as being a designated wildlife area. I don\u2019t know what more to say. I mean it\u2019s sort of out-of-the-blue.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a statement complete with a promotional video released on their website in June, the group known as Frontier Valley called for President Donald Trump to declare a national security emergency so the development could be built on 512 acres at Alameda Point.<\/p>\n
Frontier Valley, which is also the proposed tech city\u2019s name (frontiervalley.com\/faq<\/a>), would operate in a special economic zone with minimal state or local regulation to focus on developing artificial intelligence, robotics and advanced manufacturing \u2014 areas where America lags behind China \u2014 all in the context of a declared U.S. national security emergency.<\/p>\n In his 2024 campaign, Trump promised to create 10 new corporate-run jurisdictions known as \u201cFreedom Cities\u201d on federal land. Clearly, Frontier Valley wants Alameda Point to be one of them.<\/p>\n The group knows its goal will be an uphill battle, though. In the video announcing their plans, Frontier Valley founder James Ingallinera called for would-be supporters to \u201cfight alongside us in the greatest battle that ever has been and ever will be fought for the future of the human race.\u201d<\/p>\n Neither Ingallinera nor anyone else from Frontier Valley could be reached for comment. Despite this grand scheme, the U.S. Navy and city of Alameda are conducting business as usual with their plans for Alameda Point.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are two major areas of Alameda Point,\u201d says Lyman-Thorne. \u201cOne is the city-owned land where we\u2019ve envisioned a variety of different types of housing and job-generating development.\u201d<\/p>\n The remainder, which Frontier Valley wants to develop, is federally owned land that\u2019s protected space for the endangered California least tern seabird. Also planned for the land are a Veterans Affairs hospital, a columbarium and a regional park.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, these plans would upend a lot of environmental constraints that are on the property,\u201d says Lyman-Thorne, \u201cboth in terms of protected habitat for the birds as well as contamination that the Navy is still working to clean up.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are a number of sites out on the runways that are still owned by the Navy and still being treated for a variety of types of contamination that really aren\u2019t appropriate to develop now or maybe even ever. We just don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n As a result of their ongoing cleanup efforts, the Navy was required to create a new wetlands area in the northwest corner of the old runways, but unfortunately \u201cnone of that is accessible to the general public,\u201d says Lyman-Thorne.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s some pretty great work that the Navy\u2019s been doing out there,\u201d she added. \u201cThey\u2019re still doing testing, they\u2019re doing constant groundwater monitoring in some of those locations that were pretty heavily contaminated to make sure that the groundwater is not leaching out into the bay. They\u2019ve put up a barrier around a portion of the edge of the runways that extends deep into the earth to prevent leaching.\u201d<\/p>\n While not on the exact portion of Alameda Point sought by Frontier Valley, construction that the public can see taking shape is the future housing development slated to replace the dilapidated military barracks on the former Navy base. Lyman-Thorne says the city intends to build at least 700 housing units in major developments, including the West Midway Development Plan and RESHAP (Rebuilding Existing Supportive Housing at Alameda Point) projects now under construction.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of site work going, a lot of dirt being moved around right now. We don\u2019t have any housing units coming out of the ground in the vertical form, but that\u2019s just because they\u2019re doing the site preparation,\u201d says Lyman-Thorne.<\/p>\n She predicts the actual housing construction could start as soon as late 2026. Another component of Alameda Point\u2019s is its historic reuse area where the Spirits Alley adult beverage district is, along with a tech hub and other businesses.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do have actually quite a few tenants in that area,\u201d says Lyman-Thorne.<\/p>\n One of those tenants, David Mik, Power Engineering Construction\u2019s president, says he\u2019s not entirely opposed to more tech on Alameda Point as long as it\u2019s what he likes to call \u201cBlue Tech.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAlameda Point has been our home for decades,\u201d says Mik. \u201cIt offers what few places in the Bay Area can \u2014 waterfront access, space to operate and a community that\u2019s evolved into a true hub for business. We\u2019ve built ferry terminals, repaired piers and restored shorelines \u2014 right here in Alameda as well as throughout California.<\/p>\n \u201cAs Alameda Point continues to grow, we\u2019d like to see ongoing support for Blue Tech businesses \u2014 companies focused on marine, energy and ocean-related technologies that depend on being close to the water. The foundation is already here.\u201d<\/p>\n For more information online, visit alamedaca.gov\/Departments\/Alameda-Point<\/a> and frontiervalley.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n