Alameda residents will be able to review Master Plans for two Alameda developments for the first time at the Planning Board meeting this Monday, Jan. 25, at City Hall. The Planning Board will review plans for both the Block 10 area within Alameda Point’s Site A project and Encinal Terminals.

After council approved the 68-acre Site A Development Plan in June 2015, the plan stipulated that 14.8-acres will be designated for publicly accessible open space, parks and plazas on “Block 10” of the site. The area will also include a unique urban park with rehabilitated existing Navy buildings across the street from the Waterfront Park. 

Four buildings will comprise the retail spaces, with three comprised of existing former buildings constructed by the Navy and one new building that will be facing Ralph Appezzato Memorial Parkway. 

According to the agenda memorandum, the new building has been imagined “The Distillery Building” and is designed to house retailers that specialize in beverage manufacture and sale, such as winemakers, coffee roasters, and/or spirits. 

Building 98, closest to Block 11, is called the “West Seaplane Shops” and is designed to appeal to a wide range of retailers, perhaps a small grocery store (less than 5,000 square feet), bicycle shop, or other similar neighborhood retailers. 

Building 67 “Bauhaus of Foods and Garden” at the rear of the Block is designed to house other food and beverage businesses and/or garden and home decorating or improvement businesses. 

Building 112 adjacent to Block 9 is the “Market Hall” building, which is designed for antique stores, home décor, and other similar uses. 

The second development project is for Encinal Terminals. Encinal Terminals is an approximately 22-acre peninsula of land surrounded by water on three sides located behind the Del Monte Warehouse on the Northern Waterfront. Encinal Terminals seeks to combine a mix of restaurants and entertainment, artist studios and galleries, work spaces for maritime activities and craftspeople, a marina, work/live studios, retail establishments, kayak and bicycle rental shops and multiple public gathering spaces.

The site is comprised of two parcels: a parcel owned by North Waterfront Cove LLC (NWC) and an approximately 6-acre parcel at the center of the site that is owned by the City in “trust” for the people of the State of California (“Trust Parcel”).  The Trust Parcel – which was historically submerged but has since been filled – is subject to the public trust for commerce, navigation and fisheries (“public trust”).  NWC holds the lease for the Tidelands property.

Plans for development of the area needed to include certain site specific polices, according to the agenda memorandum. 

Those policies included clustering development to maximize open space and view corridors to the estuary, taller buildings should be located at the southern end and require ground floor uses and/or a pedestrian friendly façade if a parking structure is proposed among other items. 

The Planning Board meeting will allow the public to comment on the designs. For more information on the two proposed project designs, visit the city of Alameda website.