Bahama Conch Land Trust

Project Team (L- R: Hitesh Mehta; John Allyn; Venesia Thompson; Gary Moore; and Ralph Johnson with Norma-Jean Sawyer, Executive Director of the Bahama Conch Community Land Trust of Key West, FL. (Not shown: Dr. Mohamad Alkadry).

On September 27, 1995, the Department of the Navy, pursuant to the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) action, declared certain land parcels and facilities attached to Naval Air Station Key West as excess. These properties included 50 acres located at the Truman Waterfront in downtown Key West along with other parcels throughout the City. In response, the City of Key West established the Naval Properties Local Redevelopment Authority (LRA) to plan, acquire, and redevelop the surplus properties.

In 1997, the City of Key West, led by the Local Redevelopment Authority (LRA) initiated a comprehensive, community-focused planning effort under the Base Closure and Community Redevelopment Assistance Act of 1994. The purpose was to create a long-range vision for civilian reuse of the excessed military property. The resulting plan, the City of Key West Base Reuse Plan, was prepared according to federal guidelines, adopted by the City Commission on September 16, 1997, and approved by the federal government on August 11, 1998.

Concurrent with reuse planning efforts were: 1) the planning study (finding of necessity) for the creation of a Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) and 2) community workshops that led to the development and update of the Bahama Village Redevelopment Plan, both aimed at redeveloping and revitalizing portions of Key West, namely the Key West Bight and the Bahama Village.

In March 1998, the City Commission hired Bermello-Ajamil and Partners, Inc. (BAP) to provide planning services for the development of the Chapter 288 Military Base Reuse Plan, which was to translate the vision of the 1997 Base Reuse Plan into the land use laws of the city and the state. In essence, the Chapter 288 Military Base Reuse Plan amended the city’s Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Regulations (LDR) necessary for guiding future developments.

Between mid-1998 and October 2002, the City/LRA submitted numerous applications for public benefit conveyances (PBC) and economic development conveyances (EDC), which resulted in properties being transferred from the Navy to the City. The “conveyance package” for the Truman Waterfront properties includes the Port (the Outer Mole Pier and waterfront quays); the Harborwalk Park and adjacent green spaces; Fort Zachary Taylor State Park; and the direct inter-agency transfer of waterfront buildings and land to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The Bahama Conch Community Land Trust of Key West (BCCLT) was identified in the 1998 community planning workshops as the entity to assist the City and the Housing Authority in providing affordable housing, among other things. As a result, the BCCLT became the lead community-based organization overseeing the development of the Navy conveyed properties. Specifically, the BCCLT has been responsible for the implementation of some of the options specified in the Reuse Plan, namely the construction of affordable housing, the expansion of economic development activities (job creation, entrepreneurship), and the preservation of the City’s historic African-American neighborhood.

In November of 2003, the South Florida Regional Resource Center at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) hired another center at FAU, the Center for Urban Redevelopment and Education (CURE) to assist the BCCLT in achieving these goals by developing a Master Plan for mixed-use development for the Truman Annex Surplus Properties. CURE assembled a multidisciplinary Project Team that included market analysts, an environmental planner, an urban designer, a landscape architect, and a public artist. (see Project Team at the end of this report). The master planning included two phases: The development of a market research study to assess real estate needs in the area and the development of a master plan to determine the look, feel, and character of the developed property.

For more information on the market analysis and master plan, please contact The Center for Urban Redevelopment and Education (CURE) at 954-762-5697 or the South Florida Regional Resource Center at 954-762-5255.