Experience
UC MBEST Center Monterey, CA (Former Fort Ord Military Base)
The University of California Monterey Bay Education, Science and Technology Center (“UCMBEST”) is a University research park located on lands at the Former Fort Ord near Monterey, CA.
From a promising beginning evidenced by construction of an incubator building and site infrastructure for 70 acres of development, progress on creation of the research park has been slow. UCMBEST has actively solicited developers and end users, however nothing else has been built.
The University of California Santa Cruz’s Chancellor Blumenthal announced in March of 2010 that the campus intended to continue to hold and manage the Fort Ord Natural Reserve lands and would shrink the footprint of the MBEST Center from 500 acres down to approximately 70 acres where infrastructure has been installed, and would consider alternative uses for peripheral lands. In response to a request from Congressman Sam Farr, a group of stakeholders was assembled to discuss and make recommendations regarding a future vision for MBEST Center lands.
A team comprising Urban Community Partners, Urban Design Associates and Urban Community Economics was selected by the University of California (“U.C.”) and the Fort Ord Reuse Authority (“FORA”) to facilitate productive discussions among the stakeholders and to bring additional external, objective, development, planning and economic expertise to help inform the discussions. Community leaders from the following organizations participated:
- U.C. Santa Cruz
- Congressman Sam Farr
- Fort Ord Reuse Authority
- City of Marina
- City of Seaside
- City of Monterey
- City of Salinas
- County of Monterey
- California State University Monterey Bay
- Monterey Peninsula College
- Monterey Peninsula Unified School District
- Naval Postgraduate School
- Defense Language Institute
- Monterey Institute for International Studies
- Monterey College of Law
UCP ROLE
Development Consultants
Facilitators
Project Managers
Visioning
Baseline analysis
Project facts
In 1994 the University of California (“U.C.”) obtained approximately 500 acres of developable land and 600 acres of habitat reserve land from the U.S. government as part of the realignment of the former Fort Ord. In 1996 the U.C. Regents incorporated the 600-acre Fort Ord Natural Reserve (“FONR”) into the U.C. Natural Reserve System (“NRS”). In 1997 the U.C. Regents approved a master plan for the U.C. Monterey Bay Education, Science, and Technology Center (“UCMBEST Center”).
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