Letter to the city: Wow Concept Generator

Dear Mayor Wasserman, City Council, and Mr. Diaz,

Enclosed is a proposal that we urge you to pursue regarding the eneration of "Wow concepts" for the Warm Springs Area of Fremont. We believe it is important to create an economic engine, and are willing and able to work with you to implement this plan to create an economic incubator zone. We strongly believe that the City's interests would be better served through a impartial analysis of alternative ideas to create full time high paying year-round jobs, the highest tax revenues, the most reinvestment into our community, a integration with the environment, and a lasting legacy.

We look forward to your positive response within the next five business days.

Fremont Citizens Network

January 25, 2010

City of Fremont

Mayor’s Office
3300 Capitol Avenue, Building A
Fremont, CA 94538

Subject: Wow Concept Generator

Dear Mayor Wasserman, City Council, Mr. Diaz,

Fremont Citizens Network (FCN), a grass-roots organization with over 1,000 members, wholeheartedly supports the City’s efforts to create an economic engine in the Warm Springs area of Fremont. This area is prime real estate because of its close proximity to two interstate freeways, railroads, and BART. It is a perfect location for green energy, manufacturing, and social networking (Web 2.0) companies, distribution facilities, and commuters.

However, we strongly feel that the City’s interests would be better served through the creation of an economic incubator zone that would be state of the art; a world-class area that balances development, integrates with the environment, and exceeds green energy directives.

To that end, we propose that the City issue a Request for Proposals which we refer to as the “Wow Concept Generator” competition, detailed below:

The City of Fremont will issue a public invitation seeking proposals that would create high paying full-time jobs. These jobs will help supplant those that will be lost due to the March, 2010 expected closure of the NUMMI plant.

Alameda County or the City of Fremont will provide clean land of approximately 120 acres at the North site of the NUMMI campus as referenced in the property grant proposal presented by Mr. Diaz, and will pay for a variety of infrastructure costs, which total approximately $80 million. The included land costs are estimated to be around $240 million.

The City of Fremont will require $1 million per year in fees for use of the 120 acres. The land will be owned by the county or the city; all building and landscape improvements, maintenance, and security costs are the full responsibility of the tenants.

All submissions must be completed and submitted no later than August 2, 2010. Contestants must be given a minimum of six months from the public announcement date to complete their submissions.

Submissions will be judged by the Planning Commission and the voting public.

In order to have a fair competition and mitigate bias, and in light of the fact that the city has already spent over $100,000 to generate a "conceptual approach" that focuses solely on a stadium proposal, the City of Fremont will award a $100,000 prize to the winning submission. If substantial ideas from different submissions are adopted, the award will be split. Families, employees, consultants, and associates of the City of Fremont are not eligible to participate.

Mr. Diaz stated that “Wow” concepts are "out of the ether" and that his "task force" has not come up with any other ideas. Let's make a genuine effort to see what other concepts can be generated, and compare the concrete benefits they might offer, so we can make our choice based upon which proposals will provide the best jobs, the highest tax revenues, the most reinvestment into our community, provide a balance with the environment, and create an impressive legacy.

This is a winning concept that we urge you to pursue, and we remain ready, willing and able to work with you to implement this plan. We look forward to your positive response within the next five business days.

Sincerely,

Kathy McDonald
President
Fremont Citizen’s Network
www.fremontcitizensnetwork.org

Tags: NUMMI, Wow, letter, FCN Press Release

Attachments:

FCN Wow concept letter.pdf, 51 KB

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Veronica on February 2, 2010 at 7:03pm

I wonder if City of Fremont has given the replies to FCN ?

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Permalink Reply by FCN Admin on February 7, 2010 at 3:47pm

Response from City Manager

from Fred Diaz to fremontcitizensnetwork@gmail.com date Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 3:04 PM
subject NUMMI site

Thank you for contacting us regarding the economic revitalization of the
NUMMI site. For several months, the City has been evaluating reuse and
redevelopment opportunities for the NUMMI site. One of the options we
may consider is to issue an RFP for reuse and development opportunities
on both the 120 acre portion of the NUMMI site as well as the balance of
the 370-acre site. As we have stated on many occasions, we are looking
at all opportunities to create high-quality jobs in Fremont so that our
residents and our businesses do not continue to suffer in this
extraordinarily turbulent economic era.

On February 9th we expect to ask the Council to support an application
for a federal grant to study appropriate and likely reuse opportunities
for the NUMMI location. This funding would enable the City to develop a
Strategic Plan that would identify reuse opportunities and potential new
uses of this world class, well-situated property. The Strategic Plan
would call for an emphasis on new and sustainable sources of revenue and
employment generation, including new retail, commercial, manufacturing,
research and development, hospitality, and entertainment opportunities.

The conceptual approach for a ballpark project was submitted as a
starting point for potential discussions with Major League Baseball and
the A*s. We thought it was important to preserve the opportunity for
the City Council to at least consider and evaluate a catalyst project of
this nature. We have made no decisions or commitments at this time. We
intend to continue to consider any and all viable options for the site.

We expect there will be many opportunities for public engagement
surrounding the future of this key site in Fremont. As you may be aware,
residents may go to the following link to sign up for notifications
about City activities on NUMMI site reuse:
http://www.fremont.gov/list.aspx.

Very Truly Yours,

Fred Diaz
City Manager