NASA ARC: Update on NASA’s and GSA’s Plan for Silicon Valley Housing at Moffett Field
InsideAmes
Centerwide Digest
Thursday, September 14, 2017
OFFICE OF THE CENTER DIRECTOR
Update on NASA’s and GSA’s Plan for Silicon Valley Housing at Moffett Field
As you may know, per the centerwide (click on the link to view) that went out at Ames on Aug. 31, 2017, NASA will be entering into a long-term lease to construct and operate a minimum of 1,930 housing units at Moffett Field. As a result of that centerwide and a news release issued to local media, we have received questions about the housing development to which we have provided responses to below.
1) Where are the 45 acres?
To the south end of the NASA Ames property running along U.S. Highway 101 North. The exact boundaries will be determined later.
2) Is it on part of the Google-related leased land?
No.
3) Is there a map of where the proposed housing would be located? Also, considering the sea-level rise projections for Moffett Field, are there requirements being levied in the RFI to develop this housing such that they will be still be usable in 50 years?
The housing development is in the south the NASA Research Park, parallel to Highway 101 and the Army Westcoat Housing. The developer will take every aspect of the development into consideration in terms of type of structure for longevity of the project. Potential sea level rise is anticipated in the Northern edge of ARC property.
4) Will it be new construction on empty land, remodeling, tearing down other buildings, etc.? It will be new construction with some demolition required of some existing buildings on the land.
5) What are the considerations for the EPA Superfund issues? Is that location inside or outside the MEW plume? The maps I have show the plume border is in that region. Any plans to re-survey the area prior to construction or monitor during?
The housing parcel is on portions of the MEW plume, and the area has been extensively studied. The housing developer will be required to coordinate closely with NASA, the responsible parties, the EPA and the Regional Water Quality Control Board.
6) What entrance will be used to access the housing? Likely, Ellis Street.
7) Will the Google employees have any access to their part of our campus by Building N258 via Shoreline Blvd or any of the streets around there?
Yes, they will have their own gate. Google employees will access its BayView campus via RT Jones Road. There is a pedestrian bridge off of Crittenden Lane that connects Shoreline Blvd and the new BayView campus as well; however, it currently is not open to vehicular access.
8) What is the timeline, the target for having the housing up and running?
Sometime in the next 3-5 years, for what is likely a phased construction.
9) What kind of housing will it be?
Apartments of varying sizes is the likely type. This will be part of the negotiation and planning with the selected lessee.
10) Can someone elaborate on how the difficulty of finding affordable housing over the last few years and the traffic issue?
The market is highly competitive in the area, in addition to being a very expensive area to live in. This housing will be at market rate, other than a percentage of “affordable housing” which will be defined later in this process. The people working at Moffett will have priority access, but will not be getting subsidized housing.
The increase in traffic was predicted during the time we were developing our Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement. The main driver behind this is so we can meet the requirements of Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement. This is just another phase in the center’s master plan. However, no one could have predicted how impacted the housing in the area currently is. The reason folks working or going to school on Ames-owned property receive first priority is because that’s where traffic mitigation needs to occur.
11) How many workers are there at Moffett or nearby?
We estimate up to 8,000 total people are in the priority groups working onsite at Moffett who would be able to apply for priority access. That includes NASA civil servants, contractors and others working for dozens of other organizations onsite at Moffett.
12) Will the 10 percent of the units that are designated as “affordable” be subsidized? By who? And is there a way to better define “affordable” — does that mean they will be made available to low-income earners? Is there an income range that fits “low income”? Any specifics on that? Also are Ames employees and individuals who work or attend school on Ames property eligible for units AHEAD of the rest of the local public?
These are details that will be worked out when we release the request for proposals in the fall.
13) Will there be an applications for the proposed housing happening soon? Is there a waiting list to rent out the housing when it becomes available? Can I get more information?
It will be at least three years before housing will be awarded, designed, built and commissioned. During the last phase is where there will likely be an application process.
We will continue to update Ames employees on this process.
If you have additional questions, please submit them to astrid.albaugh@nasa.gov and we’ll work on an additional centerwide answering those questions in the future.
Deborah Feng
Associate Center Director for Mission Support
POC: Astrid L. Albaugh (650.604.3347), astrid.albaugh@nasa.gov
