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Revamp of NTC hailed as a model base closure.

Article Excerpt
Communities facing the conversion of a military base had better have sound strategy in place right off the bat, or they are likely to get "snookered."

That's the advice of Harry H. Kelso, an attorney, environmental consultant and chairman and chief executive officer of Base Closure Partners, LLC, in Richmond, Va. Kelso is also a big fan of Liberty Station, the $850 million mixed-use project in Point Loma being built on the grounds of the former San Diego Naval Training Center. In fact, Kelso cites Liberty Station as a national model.

"I have looked at lots and lots of military bases and how they are used," said Kelso, who also negotiated the redevelopment of Fort Pickett, Va., for then-Virginia Gov. George Allen in 1997. That conversion, split into two parcels, now is reserved for military, business and industrial uses, "and I have concluded that how these two installations have done are a model of how they can be done very effectively and done correctly."

"In both cases, you found that there was a person at the top of the ladder who exercised a lot of leadership, and said, 'Here's what we're going to go,' and were very inclusive about getting public comment and staying on message on what they need to do," said Kelso.

He credits then-Mayor Susan Golding as the one topping that ladder.

Liberty Station

Covering 361 acres of prime bayside property less than six minutes from Lindbergh Field, the Liberty Station project is a collaboration of the city's redevelopment agency and San Diego-based Corky McMillin Cos. The city, Navy and airport officials still retain ownership of about 80 percent of the land at the former NTC, where, according to the San Diego Navy Historical Association, "millions of sailors have entered the gates as civilians and left weeks later as sharp, well-trained sailors in the world's greatest Navy." McMillin was given the right to lease and sell some of the land to offset the cost of the redevelopment, and has completed 50 percent of the infrastructure upgrades, including a 46-acre public park and promenade that intersects...

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