Organization readies for arts, culture complex at NTC site: nonprofits sought to lease renovated buildings.

Construction of Liberty Station on the former Naval Training Center in Point Loma appears to be on track for its mid-2007 completion.

The $500 million redevelopment includes housing, office and retail space, an educational district, and a waterfront park on 360 acres. The master developer is the National City-based Corky McMillin Cos.

Promenade Centre, the 26-building, 350,000-square-foot arts and culture district, will also soon be under way. The NTC Foundation is responsible for the preservation and reuse of the historic structures that make up the district.

"This is a phenomenal opportunity for the region. There isn't a place where you can put together a wide range of arts and culture groups with housing, office, and retail to support it," said Marc Kasky, who was named interim executive director of the NTC Foundation this year.

He was a consultant for McMillin in 1999 as the developer planned the arts and culture district.

Previously, Kasky was the executive director for Fort Mason Center, a 13-acre cultural, educational, and recreational district for more than 40 nonprofit organizations in San Francisco. The facility was converted from military to public use in 1976.

The NTC Foundation plans to open half of Promenade Centre during the first quarter of 2005, coinciding with the opening of several other components in Liberty Station.

The foundation began working with San Diego-based Roesling Nakamura Architects Inc. this year.

Daunting Renovations

Using guidelines developed by San Diego architect M. Wayne Donaldson, Roesling Nakamura is the preservation architect for the exteriors of the buildings and the lead architect for reuse of the buildings task interiors.

"It's sort of a daunting task," said principal Ralph Roesling.

The structures are magnificent, Roesling said, but they need to meet current building codes and accessibility requirements. Also, each tenant will want different interior designs.

About $15 million is needed for the first phase. McMillin has offered a $500,000 interest-free loan to get the renovations started. The developer provided $2 million to set up the foundation in 2000 and has contributed money since then for operations.

The foundation received a $5.85 million rehabilitation grant from the city's Redevelopment Agency and a $300,000 grant from California's Office of Historic Preservation, for the first phase.

Discussions with many possible tenants, including museums, galleries, dance groups, cultural organizations, and scientific interests are ongoing.

The foundation will lease the buildings from the city and sublease them to the organizations After the first of the year, the group expects to finalize its lease with the city. Then it will be able to sign leases with organizations.

"We're looking for activities that engage the public in an interactive way," Kasky said.

The second phase of the arts and culture district may open in mid-2006. Progress on the center depends on leasing and fund raising.

Fund raising will first target groups and individuals that are capable of giving large donations. A large public fund-raising campaign may not begin until the second phase begins, Kasky said.

"This is going to be a model for other cities," Kasky said.

NTC Is Fastest Conversion

To his knowledge, he said NTC is the fastest-moving base conversion in the country. The base closure was announced in 1993, and the Navy vacated the base in 1997. Hunter's Point in San Francisco has been vacant for decades, Kasky said.

According to Megan Conley, McMillin's spokesperson for Liberty Station, about 100 homes are under construction, and close to 50 families have moved in.

Rick Jarrett, vice president of McMillin's new home sales division, said 154 out of 349 homes have been sold at Liberty Station. Prices range from the high $300,000s to the mid-$700,000s,

Near the housing, two office buildings totaling 100,000 square feet are nearly finished. In all there will be seven buildings totaling 380,000 square feet. Tenants may be announced later this month.

San Diego-based C.W. Clark Inc. will develop the Marketplace, 150,000 square feet of retail in five historic buildings. Rehabilitation of the structures may begin by the end of 2003, according to Conley.

"Our goal is to have a critical mass of development open along the promenade by mid-2005," Conley said.

The city has approved plans for a 46-acre park along San Diego Bay. The California Coastal Commission also must approve the park plans and may do so in October.

Of the two hotel planned at Liberty Station, McMillin may have an agreement with a developer for the smaller 350-room hotel in the next few months, according to Conley. The 600-room hotel site is still on the market.

"We have had a few letters of interest, but no real prospects," she said.

According to Maureen Ostrye, the city's project manager for the redevelopment of NTC, the Navy property was conveyed to McMillin with the understanding that the developer would put in basic infrastructure needed on the property.

The existing infrastructure was so old and in such bad shape that the city couldn't afford to make the improvements, Ostrye said during an Aug. 28 meeting of Citizens Coordinate for Century 3, a nonprofit grassroots planning organization.

McMillin has spent about $50 million of an expected $100 million investment in infrastructure, including new streets, new sewer lines, and removing NTC's old steam heating system. Widening of Rosecrans Street, the main road through Point Loma that runs past Liberty Station, should be done by the end of the year.