MARINA, Calif.- It's a prime piece of real estate, right in the middle of the Central Coast and we've told you everything from a cemetery to a horse racing track could go there. We're talking about the former Fort Ord and everyone's trying to get their hands on it.
The land is split up between Monterey, Marina, Seaside, Del Rey Oaks, and Monterey County. Each of those cities and the county are working on their own plans for a piece of the land.
The face of Fort Ord is changing and the reuse authority is in charge of making each portion is put to good use.
"It takes a look at exactly that question. Where are we at with this? We've had a lot of public hearings, we've hired a consultant who's taking a look at the progress on various projects," said Fort Ord Reuse Authority Assistant Executive Officer Steve Endsley.
When Fort Ord was decommissioned, the federal government put the group up to the task of making it an asset again. Now five cities along the central coast are working with the authority to put their portion to use.
"Land goes from the army through the authority, then passes through us to the jurisdictions and they do all the planning and entitling of individual projects," Endsley said.
FORA said Marina is going to add a second phase to The Dunes project, where the new REI and Target are at, adding a movie theater and a restaurant. Monterey County is working on a housing project on East Garrison and its planning to add a new one with in the next year or so. Seaside has plans to put in a horse race track, a hotel and possibly a shopping center. Del Rey Oaks is also looking to build a new hotel. The city of Monterey is putting out feelers to see if any developers are interested.
"The housing market has been slowed down because of the economy. But we're beginning to see signs that the housing market is coming back. So you will see some of those project beginning to break ground," Endsley said.
FORA holds monthly public meetings to discuss plans and proposals in each city.
