Let the bidding begin.
Irvine’s El Toro land auction got under way this morning. Developers were invited last fall to take part in an online auction for about 3,700 acres up for bid at the former El Toro Marine base.
Irvine has designated most of the land for recreational and open space uses, such as parks, cemeteries and golf courses under its Great Park plan.
Land parcels up for bid are slated for residential, office and retail development.
Industry sources said the entire base probably will sell for less than the $1 billion price tag initially floated in 2003.
Sale of land at the former Tustin air base went for about $1 million an acre, though El Toro land may not go for as much because of Irvine’s requirements for open space.
The Navy plans to use funds raised in the sale to pay to clean up the base and contamination at other bases.
In April 2003, the Navy announced to much fanfare the sale of El Toro, which initially was set for that fall. But lawsuits and contamination issues have bogged down the sale.
State and federal officials said last year that about one-quarter of the former Marine base can’t immediately be sold to developers because of concerns about toxic contamination from decades of military operation.
Nearly 1,000 contaminated or potentially polluted acres wind throughout the base. Under federal law, the Navy can’t sell any land that is or could be contaminated. The acres could be leased instead.
The online auction is being conducted at the federal General Services Administration’s auction Web site, www.AuctionRP.com.
Meanwhile, last minute bids to turn the shuttered base into a commercial airport are floundering. Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn asked the Navy to transfer the base to the U.S. Department of Transportation, which would then lease it to Los Angeles. But federal officials quickly nixed the proposal.
