Like most Alameda city officials, Abby Thorne-Lyman, the city’s point person for developing Alameda Point, the former Naval Air Station Alameda on the island city’s West End, was caught completely off-guard by a recent Silicon Valley group’s announcement that it plans for part of the area to become a utopian artificial intelligence “tech city.”
“I am pretty stunned,” said Thorne-Lyman, who heads the city of Alameda’s Base Reuse and Economic Development Department, which manages Alameda Point’s redevelopment. “I guess it was a little hard to believe as a concept because we understand all of the constraints and the visions for that space as being a designated wildlife area. I don’t know what more to say. I mean it’s sort of out-of-the-blue.”
In a statement complete with a promotional video released on their website in June, the group known as Frontier Valley called for President Donald Trump to declare a national security emergency so the development could be built on 512 acres at Alameda Point.
Frontier Valley, which is also the proposed tech city’s name (frontiervalley.com/faq), would operate in a special economic zone with minimal state or local regulation to focus on developing artificial intelligence, robotics and advanced manufacturing — areas where America lags behind China — all in the context of a declared U.S. national security emergency.
In his 2024 campaign, Trump promised to create 10 new corporate-run jurisdictions known as “Freedom Cities” on federal land. Clearly, Frontier Valley wants Alameda Point to be one of them.
The group knows its goal will be an uphill battle, though. In the video announcing their plans, Frontier Valley founder James Ingallinera called for would-be supporters to “fight alongside us in the greatest battle that ever has been and ever will be fought for the future of the human race.”
Neither Ingallinera nor anyone else from Frontier Valley could be reached for comment. Despite this grand scheme, the U.S. Navy and city of Alameda are conducting business as usual with their plans for Alameda Point.
“There are two major areas of Alameda Point,” says Lyman-Thorne. “One is the city-owned land where we’ve envisioned a variety of different types of housing and job-generating development.”
The remainder, which Frontier Valley wants to develop, is federally owned land that’s protected space for the endangered California least tern seabird. Also planned for the land are a Veterans Affairs hospital, a columbarium and a regional park.
“Obviously, these plans would upend a lot of environmental constraints that are on the property,” says Lyman-Thorne, “both in terms of protected habitat for the birds as well as contamination that the Navy is still working to clean up.
“There are a number of sites out on the runways that are still owned by the Navy and still being treated for a variety of types of contamination that really aren’t appropriate to develop now or maybe even ever. We just don’t know.”
As a result of their ongoing cleanup efforts, the Navy was required to create a new wetlands area in the northwest corner of the old runways, but unfortunately “none of that is accessible to the general public,” says Lyman-Thorne.
“There’s some pretty great work that the Navy’s been doing out there,” she added. “They’re still doing testing, they’re doing constant groundwater monitoring in some of those locations that were pretty heavily contaminated to make sure that the groundwater is not leaching out into the bay. They’ve put up a barrier around a portion of the edge of the runways that extends deep into the earth to prevent leaching.”
While not on the exact portion of Alameda Point sought by Frontier Valley, construction that the public can see taking shape is the future housing development slated to replace the dilapidated military barracks on the former Navy base. Lyman-Thorne says the city intends to build at least 700 housing units in major developments, including the West Midway Development Plan and RESHAP (Rebuilding Existing Supportive Housing at Alameda Point) projects now under construction.
“There’s a lot of site work going, a lot of dirt being moved around right now. We don’t have any housing units coming out of the ground in the vertical form, but that’s just because they’re doing the site preparation,” says Lyman-Thorne.
She predicts the actual housing construction could start as soon as late 2026. Another component of Alameda Point’s is its historic reuse area where the Spirits Alley adult beverage district is, along with a tech hub and other businesses.
“We do have actually quite a few tenants in that area,” says Lyman-Thorne.
One of those tenants, David Mik, Power Engineering Construction’s president, says he’s not entirely opposed to more tech on Alameda Point as long as it’s what he likes to call “Blue Tech.”
“Alameda Point has been our home for decades,” says Mik. “It offers what few places in the Bay Area can — waterfront access, space to operate and a community that’s evolved into a true hub for business. We’ve built ferry terminals, repaired piers and restored shorelines — right here in Alameda as well as throughout California.
“As Alameda Point continues to grow, we’d like to see ongoing support for Blue Tech businesses — companies focused on marine, energy and ocean-related technologies that depend on being close to the water. The foundation is already here.”
For more information online, visit alamedaca.gov/Departments/Alameda-Point and frontiervalley.com.
Paul Kilduff is a San Francisco-based writer who also draws cartoons. He can be reached at pkilduff350@gmail.com.