Vallejo City Council to be updated on proposed sale of 157-acres on North Mare Island

VALLEJO - The Vallejo City Council is scheduled to meet with city staff during a special closed session Tuesday and receive an update about the possible sale of 157 acres of land on North Mare Island.

The city’s negotiators include interim City Manager Mike Malone, interim Assistant City Manager Gillian Hayes, and Paul Kellet, special advisor to the city manager on economic development.

The seven-person council received a similar update in September, followed by skepticism from many community members who have questioned the lack of transparency surrounding the proposed sale.

It was revealed that then-City Manager Greg Nyhoff met with officials from the Nimitz Group and Southern Land Group in late 2019. Nyhoff was accused of weakening an October 2019 term sheet by removing certain benchmarks in favor of Nimitz Group.

Nimitz owns more than 800 acres of land on Mare Island, this includes the purchase of 500 acres from residential developer Lennar in November 2019 and the 170-acre golf course located on the southern portion of the island.

In early 2020, Nimitz brought in the Tennessee-based Southern Land Company as master developer.

The council has since approved a new term sheet which would see the city sell the 157 acres for $3 million, which has also raised concerns. Two Nevada developers paid $58.4 million for  59-acres of land owned by the U.S. Coast Guard in the city of Concord. The land was sold at auction with the minimum bid starting at $15 million.

Closer to home, the Vallejo school district is looking to sell two properties  17.71 acres of land located along Rollingwood Drive and Benicia Road for no less than $4.8 million. The property currently has four unused little league baseball fields on it. In addition, the district is asking for no less than $2.9 million for the 5.2-acre school site on Farragut Avenue in West Vallejo.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the council will also receive an update on the status of negotiations between the city and labor unions, which include the International Association ofFirefighters, IAFF 1186; Vallejo Police Officers Association (VPOA); International Association of Electrical Workers, Local 1245 (IBEW); Confidential, Administrative, Managerial and Professional Association of Vallejo (CAMP); and unrepresented employees.

Vallejo’s negotiators are Malone, Human Resources Director Mark Love, and Charles Sakai and Burke Dunphy with the Sloan, Sakai, Yeung & Wong law firm.

The special closed session is scheduled begin at 5 p.m, Tuesday inside the Vallejo City Hall Council Chambers, 555 Santa Clara St. The general public will have an opportunity to address the council before it convenes into closed session.