‘For Sale’: A Base’s Future

The red, white and blue “For Sale” sign planted in the ground outside Tustin Villas is more than just a marketing pitch for another of Orange County’s housing developments. The sign that invites developers to bid on 235 acres of land at the former Tustin Marine air base means that after years of talking, negotiating, fighting and suing, it’s finally time to start doing something with the former military base.

The U.S. Navy is selling Tustin Villas, along with two other military housing units, to help recoup costs associated with moving troops and equipment to other locations. The three subdivisions contain more than 1,200 townhomes, duplexes and multifamily units that once housed Marines and their families. Some older units will be torn down to make way for new development, but the base reuse plan calls for medium- and low-density residential development on the land.

The sale of Tustin Villas, Marble Mountain and Moffett Meadows--the latter two named, respectively, for a helicopter base in Vietnam and the father of Navy aviation--will do more than help the Navy generate cash. The real estate deal also could provide insight into how the Navy will dispose of remaining land at the 1,600-acre blimp and helicopter base as well as the 4,700-acre El Toro base.

The housing developments that sit in the shadow of the massive blimp hangars are cataloged on the federal government’s General Service Agency’s Web site. Motivated buyers are encouraged to visit a sales office on the former base. The Navy modestly describes the land as “prime parcels” that are just a short drive from UC Irvine, South Coast Plaza and the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

The value of the 235 acres was hinted at a few months ago when 22 developers, an unexpectedly high number, submitted bids to the city of Tustin for a smaller, undeveloped parcel. And residential land just off the base in Irvine has sold for as much as $1 million an acre.

Uncle Sam is on track toward the goal of closing out a big part of the federal government’s long military association with Orange County. Unfortunately, the city of Tustin still is at odds with the Santa Ana Unified School District, which wants land on the base to build a much-needed school. Tustin knows it won’t be able to zone its base property--the first step toward redevelopment--until the disagreement is settled. Tustin has accommodated other school districts and community colleges, and a similar agreement with Santa Ana Unified is overdue.