Federal delays slow Orlando base reuse program

Orlando, Fla., lost no time planning for the reuse of the Naval Training Center once it was identified for closure in July 1993.

By August, Mayor Glenda Hood had formed a Reuse Commission that featured an executive committee and 10 subcommittees with a total of 150 members.

The commission’s goal was simple: create a Reuse Plan that would be acceptable to the community. More than 165 public meetings later, the plan, which incorporated business parks; residential, retail and medical space; recreation areas and a warehousing and distribution center, was completed by BRW, a local consulting firm.

The NTC reuse planning process included an inventory of physical, environmental and economic conditions for the base property and surrounding areas.

Additionally, it identified many opportunities and constraints and resulted in the development of a series of goals for base reuse.

The final plan called for development of more than 3,200 residential units, creation of 15,500 new jobs, redevelopment of more than 2.5 million square feet of existing building space and construction of more than 3 million the four NTC properties. The navy accepted the plan in April 1994, and the first tenants, U.S. Customs, a regional veterans clinic in the old naval hospital and a regional center for the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, began arriving.

By Summer 1995, the city had received commitments from 11 tenants bringing 2,422 jobs — more than 50 percent of the civilian jobs lost when NTC closed.

The Business Development Plan, initiated in May 1995, is near completion. The due date was recently extended to allow time for various complex development issues to be resolved by the city’s consultant and staff.

The plan includes appraisals of all the base properties, estimates on necessary new or enhanced infra-structure and identification of the types and costs of new roadways.

It also includes estimates on the costs to demolish unusable buildings or infrastructure, provides phasing-in plans and financial pro formas and determines the project’s effect on city services and revenues.

These estimates of costs and revenues will be incorporated into the determination of the fair market value of the property. The bottom line value will become the basis for negotiating a transfer cost when the property is finally conveyed.

The city was going full-speed ahead when reality, in the form of the federal bureaucracy, kicked in.

The McKinney Act requires entities taking over closed military installations to make an assessment of homeless provider needs in the area; if necessary, turning over some facilities for that purpose.

Orlando, in cooperation with Central Florida agencies serving the homeless, put together a plan that would provide for single-room occupancy housing, facilities for drug and alcohol rehabilitation and some family living space. That plan was forwarded to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in November 1995.

The department had 60 days to review the plan, but weather and the budget stalemate slowed the process. HUD approval is the final legal hurdle to property conveyance from the navy to the city. However, upon HUD approval, the navy still must complete its Environmental Impact Statement, which can take from 30 days to 45 days.

Approval of the EIS will allow the navy to enter into a Record of Decision to begin negotiations on the property conveyance. This will take another 30 days to 45 days. Then the navy will begin negotiating with the city on the value of the properties to be conveyed.

This latter round can last from 60 days to 120 days.

Currently, the base is about one-third vacant. It will not close completely until 1999.

This article was written by Bob McClelland, director of real estate and business development, Orlando, Fla.